DIY barn wood stenciled crate

Now that I have my barn wood, it is time to create my version of that cute pricey piece that I first spotted a few weeks ago. Since I was trying to mimic my inspiration piece, I made a crate roughly 36” X 15”. I measured, and using a miter saw, cut my boards to my desired lengths. I then nailed the ends and bottom using a nail gun and brads. I did add some corner braces, using  1 x 2 scraps of wood we had been hoarding!     Voil´a, you have a box!!

Crate made from DIY bar wood

Well, not so fast. Look what we can do with that box. I ordered a stencil from RightSideStuff on Etsy. I gave her my dimensions, picked out my font and phrase and she did the rest. I received it promptly and couldn’t wait to see the final result. Now, I ordered a one time use stencil, but after seeing how cute this turned out and how simple it was to make, I may order a multi use stencil from her in the future. Follow the instructions carefully. Only takes a few minutes. I used Amy Howard Natural One Step Paint in Bauhaus Buff only because I had bought some a while back and had not tried it on anything yet. I used a stencil sponge from my local craft store. Dab the paint lightly on the lettering of the stencil.  Lightly is the key word here, you don’t want the paint to bleed through the stencil.  Plus, if you dab it on, you will get a weathered look rather than a sharp stenciled appearance. Allow to dry and then slowly remove the stencil.

Applying paint to stencil

Then, I drilled some 5/8” holes in each end of the box and used 5/8”rope for my handles. Just feed the rope through the holes and tie in a knot.  I was more than happy with the finished product!! What do you think?

Adding my rope for handles

I am giving this to a very good friend of mine as a housewarming gift! She just finished building her very first house and is about ready to move in any day now! I hope she likes it!