Vintage Factory Cart with Casters

Have I mentioned how much I LOOOVEE Ana White?  For those of you who don't know who she is, please check out her blog www.ana-white.com.  She posts her plans free online.  Many of them are big name knock-offs (Pottery Barn, Land of Nod etc.).  I built this vintage style crate in no time at all (with some help from my toddler).  I wanted it to give it a well used, well worn appearance to give it some "street cred" ha ha. I built it exactly to Ana's specs from her plan for Vintage Crate Carts but used new wood rather than reclaimed pallets.  My only adjustment was making it two inches more narrow than hers so I can fit two of them on the floor in my pantry.  Had I made them as wide as her plan, they wouldn't have fit.  The plan was really easy to follow and quick too. I think the finish took longer than the build. 

This is the pile of wood I started with after I'd made all of my cuts.  Ana's plans are amazing so I won't really go into much in the way of instructions.

Once you've got your crate built, it's always a good idea to give it a test drive. My baby loveeees anything with wheels. When we got our wheeled laundry sorter a few months ago, "lawnee" rides were the only thing that would calm her down when she was upset.  Not sure why I'm introducing another wheeled object into our home.  I'm a glutten for punishment I guess.

So I'm going to peg myself as a little cheesy here, but I love to incorporate places we've lived and loved into my projects. I live in a small-ish town near Tucson that is famous for the cotton that grows here (Pima Cotton).  From what I hear, it only grows here and in one small area in Egypt. I have no idea if its true or not but kind of a cool thought anyway.  I decided to make an old antique looking "Marana Cotton" cart.

I distressed (beat the crap out of) my crate, taking all hard edges off of the wood.  On some of them, I used a knife to peel away some of the wood and used my sander on some of the others. Then I took a hammer, a can opener, my keys and any thing else I could find to give it some good bumps and bruises.  If you've ever looked at real antique or vintage crates, you may have noticed the black rust staining around the screws and nails.  I wanted to mimic that look (without waiting 80 years) so I decided to use drywall screws rather than normal brass or galvanized screws so they would have dark, aged looking heads.  I took a black permanent marker (medium tipped Sharpie) and very quickly drew some lines from the screws going out into the wood.  Then, I VERY QUICKLY smudged the ink before it could dry with my finger.  I started out light and then kept going until I liked it.  You could do the Sharpie trick before or after you stain your wood.   Once the crate was aged and stained, I added casters (found the vintage looking ones at Lowe's) and stenciled the lettering on the front.