Painted Mini Storage Crate

I got a great deal on my thrifty find for this week!  I'm always on the lookout for wood that I can update to my own liking.  Since I've been planning a craft room and looking for great ways to organize all of my crafting supplies, I've been hunting different thrift stores and the local ReStore to see if there was anything I could use.  I found this plain little mini crate that I thought would work perfect for storing some of my many supplies.

I bought this for .50 last week at the thrift store.  When I checked prices online at craft stores and Amazon, they were close to $7.50.  So if you don't find one of these treasures at your local thrift store or garage sale, you can always use store coupons and save up to 60%.  Keep reading to see how I changed this plain wood crate to a pretty decor item.

                      

Supplies used:
Mini Wooden Crate
Apple Barrel White Paint
Apple Barrel Bright Magenta Paint
Apple Barrel Velvet Crush Paint
Apple Barrel Parrot Blue Paint
paintbrush
Scotch Safe Release Painters Tape



If you have read some of my other DIY project posts, you may have noticed that I use Apple Barrel brand paint a lot.  I like the consistency of that acrylic paint the best.  I do use other paint brands when I am looking for specific colors that are not available from Apple Barrel.  These three bright paints were new to the store and I couldn't pass them up.  These paints were a great deal too.  I bought them at Wal-Mart for .50 each.  I have had to stop wandering down the paint aisle because when I see these I tell myself that I should just pick up a few.  Now I don't have room in my current painting area for more paint bottles!

On to the project!  Most of the time my projects work out pretty well how I plan them.  Sometimes I make a minor mistake and it's easy to fix.  This was one of those times.  Learn from my mistake!  It will save you time in the end.  For this project, I started out painting by hand and just eyeballing the lines.  I've come to find out that it is MUCH easier to use handy painters tape to make sure your lines are straight.

 I started by painting two coats of white paint onto the wood.  The first coat absorbed into the wood quite a bit and a second layer was needed.

I chose to paint three lines of different colors on my crate.  My advice is to paint the top color and the bottom color, leaving space in the middle for the third color.  After those 2 colors have dried, you can position the painters tape so you can have a clean, smooth edge.  Press firmly to make sure it is flush against the wood so no paint gets under the tape.  Painters tape is made to not stick to painted areas.  I can't say the same for regular clear tape or plain masking tape.

Then paint the middle color. If your other colors went a little to the middle section, you may have to paint 2 coats to cover up the color. Remove the painters tape while the paint is still wet.  That makes a cleaner edge.

I love these colors together!  Using the painters tape makes it look neat and clean.

Just so you can compare, here is a picture of how it looked after I free-handed the lines before I fixed it with the painters tape.  Quite a bit wibbly-wobbly on those lines.  So like I said, learn from my mistake and use the tape the first time!

I decided that this would be a great holder for part of my ribbon collection.

What would you use this mini crate for?  My daughter asked if we could find another one and use it to hold the accessories for her Our Generation doll (like an American Girl doll, but from Target).  So I guess I'll keep my eyes out for more of these crates.

 Looking for other storage ideas for organizing craft supplies or other items?  Check out this post.