Holiday Crate - Where Organization Meets Decoration

I was looking for a way to keep all my cozy blankets and special Christmas books handy for snuggling up with my kids during the holiday season, without them spreading out all over my living room. This cute little crate turned out to be the perfect solution.


Follow along to learn how to make your own grain-sack-stripe decorated crate, using a standard crate and some leftover chalk paint and craft paint!






First, start with a crate. Nothin' fancy. I got mine at Home Depot, but I just saw virtually the same one last week at Hobby Lobby too.






Give it a little sanding, to knock off the shredded wood and splinters.






Paint the whole thing with chalk paint. I used DecoArt's Chalky Finish paint in "Primitive" because I had some leftover from another project. Chalk paint is great for this kind of project, because you don't really need to prep the wood, and it covers in only one coat. Allow it to dry completely.






Use painters tape to lay out a grain sack pattern. Grain sack comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors, so there's no "right way" to do it.






I used some leftover craft paint in a berry red color for the stripes. It took a couple of coats.






Once the craft paint is dry, peel off your tape. Be careful to keep the pattern together, so you can easily apply it to the other side of your crate.






Use the craft paint to fill in the handle with red.






Attach the tape to the other side and repeat the last three steps.






I thought it still needed a little something, so I painted the top of each slat, and all around the top edge of the crate.






Once all the craft paint is dry, use a cloth or brush to smooth finishing wax (also from DecoArt, in their Chalky Finish line) over the whole project. Then buff gently.






My grain sacks stripes look a bit like racing stripes, but I think they'll be OK once I style everything in the Christmas spirit!






Voila! Perfect blanket storage, that also works as Christmas decor.






Now, for some hot chocolate and snuggly reading!
p.s. This was part of a challenge I did with several other bloggers, so make sure to check out my blog post to see their inspiring crate projects too.







Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/11482527/holiday-crate-where-organization-meets-decoration site