DIY Distressed Nautical Crate

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. All opinions are my own.

Have you heard about the styles that are trending this Spring? Radiant Orchid – Pantone Color of the Year, Nautical, Floral and Geometric. So many to choose from. With March being National Craft Month and all, you will want to take advantage of this coupon from Jo-Ann to stock up on some craft supplies so you can get your spring craft on. If you are needing some inspiration, be sure to check out the Jo-Ann website some inspiring spring craft ideas.

Today I’m sharing how to make this super cute DIY Distressed Nautical Crate that I was able to complete in about an hours time. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of anything nautical. BUT I’m kind of digging anchors lately (who isn’t really?) and since I do have a little boy, I thought this would be something fun for me to make for my little guy. He must have known too because as I was working on it he says “That’s for me, mommy? That’s for me?” I totally lucked out by finding a white crate at Jo-Ann’s so that really cut down my craft time. I was very happy I didn’t have to paint the whole thing. I’m a lazy crafter, what can I say?

 Supplies

Crate

Craft Paint

Foam Paint Brush

Anchor Stencil

Twine

Hot Glue Gun

I’m fortunate enough to own a cutting machine so I made the anchor stencil myself using adhesive card stock. I thought I had this brilliant idea but it turns out that my paint seeped under the stencil. Boo. I had to improvise a little bit but I’m happy with how it came out. Being that the nautical theme is trending right now, I’m sure it would not be hard to find an anchor stencil somewhere. I know Jo-Ann has a smaller one but you could totally use it and put your own little spin on this project.

After I painted my anchor onto the crate using blue craft paint that I picked up at Jo-Ann and removed the stencil I noticed that it seeped under leaving me with a bit of a predicament. I first tried to touch it up using white craft paint. That did not work out well. Turns out my hand is not as steady as I thought! So, in my frustration I took white paint and covered the dang thing. And it didn’t look half bad. You could still see the blue anchor under the white and I kind of liked it!

After it dried I took some sand paper and distressed it. Wanting to add a little bit of color to the natural wood that you can now see, but not wanting to rummage through my garage to find stain, I brewed a cup of tea and used the tea bag. I figured if you can use a tea bag to make some book pages look old, you can use a tea bag to distress wood.

Loving the look of the distressed crate but wanting it to look more nautical, I added some twine to the handles using my hot glue gun. I just glued one end of the twine and kept wrapping it until it covered the whole handle.

It was that simple.  I’m totally digging how it came out. I love it that I created something that was out of the ordinary for me. It’s perfect for storing toys or blankets or even towels if you want to use it in your bathroom or out by your pool.

You can still see some of the imperfections in the anchor but it adds character, wouldn’t you say?

Don’t forget to take advantage of this coupon. I mean, who DOESN’T want to save some money?