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Orchard Girls

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Thrifty Thursday: Make your own Vintage Numbered Crate!

Hi, my name is Kayla, and I am obsessed with old crates. 
Okay, maybe not, but seriously I have just fallen in love with these things! I've been "pinning" them like crazy and admiring them every time I go to a thrift/antique store. Since we are surrounded by orchards they aren't TOO hard to come by. However, at all the antique stores, they're still pretty pricey. I decided to see if I could come up with a "look alike" vintage crate. Here is what I did.
Orchard Girls-Vintage Crate
What you need:
1. Crate
(any size will do--I used a smaller version I found @ Michael's for 7 bucks)
2. MinWax Wood Finish in "Dark Walnut"
3. Old rag or paint brush
4. Printed out letters or #'s to trace

First thing you need to do is lay down an old mat/towel OR go outside. This is a messy project! Okay, next use your old rag or brush to apply the MinWax to your crate. You can be creative with this, depending on how dark or light you want your crate. 
After you completely cover your crate you will have something that looks like the above picture. Then wait 5-10 minutes for it to soak into the wood (the longer you wait-the darker it will be). Next, wipe off any excess minwax from the crate. If it is not the desired color you were hoping for-simply apply another coat!

......several hours later!
Orchard Girls-Vintage Crate
Use your printed out numbers or letters as a stencil, and tape them onto your crate. Now, paint your letter or numbers, I used cheap acrylic paint that I already had laying around. I decided on the number 2, just because it is my favorite number.
The "2" I actually stenciled on, but the "No." I free-handed! It turned out O.K, but for all you artistic folk, feel free to "wing" it! Now after you let this completely dry you can use sand paper to sand it out a little bit, to give it more of a "vintage" feel. Lastly, apply a layer of polyethylene to preserve it.
Orchard Girls-Vintage Crate
I currently have mine on my desk holding some magazine files filled with paperwork and miscellaneous items.  I love the end results! There are so many fun ways to display old crates (or should I say "new" old crates!)
Click HERE for some other ideas on what to use these crates for! My husband and I are planning our next big project. We want to collect old scrap wood and make our own boxes, then stain them and make them into some type of bookcase. We have an empty wall we need to cover! Hopefully that will be coming up in one of our "Fix it up Friday" blog posts! 
Oh, and here's this, because it's just too cute to not share! :)
Make your own Vintage Numbered Crate
Have a wonderful Thursday!

Keepin' it Thrifty,


Parties I link to:
FEATURED ON: Hickory Trail and twelveOeight and Twigg Studios
Be sure to check out their blogs! :)

15 comments:

  1. Thanks, Megan! We're glad you stopped by! Let us know if you decide to try this out :)
    -Kayla

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  2. Outstanding Project....thanks for the idea of replacing my kid's play pen with a "Crate"! Ha..HA..Ha.....

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  3. I love it! great project, lately, I've been obsessed with crates too, got mine from Michael's as well and stained them! :-) Love your no2!
    Ingrid stopping by from twelve o eight link party!

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  4. Thanks for stopping by and for the lovely comment! That's awesome, hopefully you had as much fun as I did with this project! :)
    -Kayla

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  5. Great job! I could never have free-handed the No.! You're artistic and brave. :-) Love the crate.
    His blessings,
    Kim @ Curtain Queen







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  6. Thank, Kim! Trust me, my hands were shaking! haha. Have a wonderful day :)
    -Kayla

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  7. What a beautiful idea. I love the boxes as props in the pictures. They make a wonderful keepsake. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.

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  8. Thank you, Christie! Yeah, they are fun for lots of things! It was fun to make too :) Have a wonderful weekend!
    -Kayla

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  9. Cute idea! I love your blog and I love this project! I need to recreate this ASAP. :)

    Diane @ Vintage Zest

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  10. Thank you, Diane! Thank you for stopping by and for the sweet comment. I'm glad you like our blog, that means a lot! We're just getting started and love the encouragement!
    -Kayla

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  11. I love this project, so pretty and vintage! Featuring you tomorrow at the Pretty Things party :)

    xo, Tanya
    http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/

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  12. Tanya, WOW that is so awesome. We're really excited! Thank you so much for your support, we greatly appreciate it! We love linking up with twelveoeight!
    -Kayla

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  13. I love this! Thank you for sharing on Thursday's Treasures. I've featured it on Week 89. Please stop by and grab my "I was featured on" button. ;)

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  14. Debi, Thank you so much for featuring us! We're honored :) Grabbed a button and put in the "we've been featured" tab!
    Thanks Again,
    Kayla

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  15. Nice idea! You probably finished it with polyurethane (a polymer), not polyethylene(a plastic) btw!

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