Make Your Own Wood Crate

For a decorative touch on a shelf or to hang on the wall for light weight items, make your own crate from paint sticks. 35, 12" paint sticks, hemp and glue.

Saw 4 of the paint sticks in half to make 8, 6" sticks. Use these 6" sticks for the corners of your crate. Glue two 12" sticks to the corner pieces, one at the top and one at the bottom. Make sure everything is square.

Once the glue is dry, glue two more sticks in the empty space. Lay them all out side by side so you can be sure your pieces will match.

When the glue has thoroughly dried stand the pieces up and glue corners together making sure it's all square. Place tape around the outside to help keep it together while we build the bottom into it.

Lay three support slats 12" long along the inside edge of the bottom tier stick. These will only fit one way. Secure with glue.

Add more glue to the top of these three pieces and begin laying in the bottom of the crate. This will help square it up. Be sure to fit the pieces in the corner snug. These won't lay on the bottom tier of your sides, they lay on the supports.

This needs to dry completely, so make sure everything is square before leaving it to dry. After it's dry use the hemp and begin wrapping the corners. This is decorative but also necessary for added stability. Tie knots and add glue to the ends.

Paint and decorate your crate any way you like. For myself, I used a very watered down acrylic craft paint and continued until I attained the coverage I wanted. Hang them on the wall in the bathroom for towels or bath cloths, in the kitchen for spices, or just use them to hold items on a shelf. They are great for organizing.

For other ideas and more in depth instructions please visit my blog. Thanks and enjoy! Get your paint sticks here... http://astore.amazon.com/southernskycrafts-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=9

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