"Produce Crate" Cooler Cover {Stash-Buster Project}

My bins of wood scraps are taking over the shed.

{no pictures because the shed is such a disaster area right now!}

Luckily, I've been thinking about several projects that could use some of that wood. Here's the first one I came up with.

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The CSA we order from delivers to our home as part of the deal (so nice!), but since we're not always home on delivery day, we leave a cooler out on the front porch. And it stays on the porch all the time because there's nowhere to store it in the house (and I'd forget to put it out).

Yeah, it's not the prettiest thing around. I think the label that we never got around to taking off even though we bought this cooler years ago really adds something to it. Not something good...

(Mr M replaced the doorknob awhile ago and it required some sanding around the knob area and I haven't gotten around to repainting the door yet, hence the odd tan circle around the doorknob)

I've been pondering a solution for months now, and I eventually decided that making a "produce crate" to fit over the cooler would be a good solution. I finally had the time and energy (and the weather cooperated at the same time) to get started.

In looking through my wood stash, I found some long strips of plywood leftover from some previous project. Maybe the first shelves I built for LMS' closet? I haven't used that wood for anything else. They weren't cabinet grade oak plywood, though I do have some of those that are being used in some other projects I'm working on, and have a bit of a rustic feel to them.

the strips in front are the ones I used for this project. 

the other pieces are for two other projects I'm working on.

After measuring the wood and the cooler and drawing the plans for the crate and figuring out how to get all the pieces I needed out of the wood available, I got started building the crate.

I originally intended to have 1x2s or 2x2s in the corners, but I was able to line up the slats in such a way that they're all interconnected and quite sturdy. It does make it look a little less like an actual crate, but I'm ok with that.

I was going for a rustic look, so didn't bother breaking out the Kreg jig- all the screws are visible.

After the build was complete, I attached the lid with hinges and added a handle. I should have painted them before I attached them but I was working on it late at night and in the morning was too lazy to take them back off. I did tape the handle off, but not the hinges, then sprayed them with some ORB spray paint.

you can see the overspray on the hinges, but I knew it wouldn't be noticeable when I was finished

I used slats to hold the lid together, and sprayed the hinges on the inside, though in retrospect I probably should have just left them alone

I made stencils with my Silhouette vinyl cutter and placed them on the front and the lid, taped off around them, and sprayed them with black spray paint. I removed the stencils right away and let them dry a bit before I got to work distressing everything. It looked very new and raw- not old and weathered at all. {but I forgot to take a picture before I started the aging process}

close-up of the handle. I sprayed it with black spray paint, then washed some gray paint on top of that, then let the sander hit it in a couple spots

To age the crate, I first sanded the stenciled words. Then I brushed on watered-down gray paint, then some watered-down black paint. Some spots (especially the edges) I used less water and more paint for some variation. I just layered the paint till I liked how it looked: like it's seen some time in the fields.

I didn't have any thick sisal or cotton rope for the handles so I braided some clothesline and then soaked it in watered-down gray paint for a bit. After that I rubbed a bit a black paint on it here and there. I drilled some holes in the sides and threaded the ropes through and knotted them on the inside.

I added chain to the inside of the lid to keep the lid from falling open or whacking the wall behind it. I first thought of using the same chain I used on the shoe bin, but there wasn't enough leftover, so I used some of the chain I used on the blanket cubby.

I didn't paint the inside because most of it won't be visible. 

This is why I shouldn't have sprayed the hinges- it looks kind of ugly.

The last step was to put it on the porch, put the cooler in it, and step back and admire my work.

I love how it turned out! You can still see a bit of the red, but it's not as visible and it's not an eyesore  anymore.

An added bonus to this project: it almost didn't cost a cent! I had almost everything sitting around: the gray and black paint, the spray paint, the wood, the clothesline, the screws, the washers, and the chain. The only things I had to buy were the hinges and the handle. Though I actually bought them a couple months ago in anticipation of this project, so technically they were in my stash too :)

Stay tuned for more projects that use items we have on hand. I have some more woodworking projects plus some sewing projects in mind.