In my life, I have not always been one to ask. I would wait for someone else to raise a question or miss an opportunity by not asking. Not anymore! Maybe its confidence, or age, who knows. But now, I will ask questions if I am unclear of something and especially if I am interested in an item! Which brings me to my current post about my latest project…a unique wine caddie. Almost all the items used to make this wine caddie were free! I got the wine crate from a local liquor store. I had just made a purchase and asked if they had any wine crates laying around that they would sell. The owner came back with two and said I could have them at no cost. The raw wood for the bottom of the crate came from our local Lowes store. I was shopping in the outdoor area and saw some wood slats leaning against a shelf. The wood look used rough and a bit dirty. I asked the young woman behind the register if she knew if the wood was for sale. She did not know and the person to ask was at lunch. I left her my number and asked her to call when she found out. She called the next day and said it was scrap and I was welcome to it! I went back and got it. So now I had all the things I would need to make my wine caddy.
The idea for my wine caddie came from an old soda crate that I have been using to keep wine bottles in.
I love what I have been using, but the idea of having a carrier with French wine markings seemed perfect to me.
- This is one of the crates that I got from the store.
- I sanded it to get a nice smooth finish.
- One side of the crate needed to be filled in and smoothed out. Both sides will be painted with Annie Sloan Chateau Grey chalk paint and I will use a white wash with the same paint for the front and back.
- This is the wood I got from Lowes. Like I said, very rough!
- The same wood after sanding and staining it with MinWax Classic Gray stain. I want to use this in the bottom of crate to give it more interest.
- I used water based poly on the boards before putting them in the crate.
- The wood pieces fit perfectly three across.
- After painting with Annie Sloan paint, I used light wax to finish.
- After putting on wax, I let it sit for a few minutes and then wiped off the excess. I also put rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from moving and protect furniture.
- Once everything was painted and waxed, I added handles on both sides.
- I made dividers and white washed them before inserting them into the box.
- I love the way the wood looks on the bottom.
- Wine Storage
- Serving station
- Tray/Carrier
So don’t be afraid to ask. The worst they can say is no!