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.

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!

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.

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,

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