Antique Style Wooden Crate Wall Organizer from Pallet Wood

Antique Style Wooden Crate Wall Organizer from Pallet Wood
My project today started out to be something totally different, but I failed, and this was my attempt at salvaging something of my failed project.
I wanted an antique fruit shipping crate, complete with a beautiful label on it, but I didn’t want to pay antique store prices for it.  I had several weathered pallets, so I figured it would be easy to build my own antique style crate, right?
Antique Fruit Crate Label Tin Can Organizer | knickoftime.net
Well, maybe not.  I’m also way behind the crowd, because I had NEVER created a project with pallets before, and this crate would be my first attempt at using them.   You can see from this photo of the massacred pallet that I’m a newbie, but I got that pallet cut apart and came up with my plan.

I cut the pallet boards into 7 pieces (3 long pieces, and 4 shorter ones)for each side of the crate, based on the size I wanted my crate to be.


I assembled each side of the crate, by screwing the three long pieces between two shorter pieces.

I was patting myself on the back, because so far it was looking great…but my plan took a U-turn.  I couldn’t get the thing assembled into a crate to save my life.  It looked like a toddler had built it (I didn’t photograph my failure), but I didn’t want my work to be a total waste.  By themselves, I thought the side pieces looked great, so I put my thinking cap on to figure out how I could turn them into something else.

I remembered I had some antique labels from old tin cans {free printables here}.  And since tin cans were shipped in wooden crates, the relationship between the two gave me an idea to create something new with my failed crate pieces.

vintage can labels

I had just finished a project using tin cans (seen here) and had some cans left over, so I printed several of the peach labels and wrapped them around two of the cans, then screwed the cans into one of the wooden crate sides.
I attached two old coat hooks on the sides, and was really tickled with the end result.  No, I wasn’t going to get an antique style crate, but I now had a useful wall hook/holder, that I could hang in my kitchen.  Not only is it useful for holding a kitchen towel, and some utensils, but I could almost convince myself that this was exactly the project I had in mind when I started, instead of the remains of a DIY failure.
Antique Style Wooden Crate Wall Organizer from Pallet Wood
It has a really nostalgic, old time look to it, and it just makes me smile when I look at it, and I guess that’s the point of any project we make, right?  So, I guess it wasn’t a total failure after all.
{Feel Free to PIN this image.}
Repurposed Tin Can Wall Organizer and Printable Tin Can Labels | www.knickottime.net

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Comments

  1. This turned out so cute, Angie…a happy accident! Love the look of the labels…thanks for sharing!

  2. I like it Angie. I think you did a good job and love the veggie/fruit graphics.

    Thanks for the inspiration. I just can’t keep up with all the things I see and want to do.
    Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures

  3. This really turned out great. An attractive and useful creation is hard to beat!

  4. What fun! I’ll have to tell my Brother-in-law about this. He is always looking for ways to repurpose.

  5. I used your idea for my kitchen recently and linked back here today. Please come check it out and thanks for the idea.

    http://snugharborbay.blogspot.com/2014/05/tin-can-utensil-holder.html

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