How to make Vintage Soda Crates for DIY Farmhouse Decor

Today’s tutorial teaching you how to make vintage soda crates is a part of the Cricut Summer Love Color Series.  The featured color this week is “lime” and I’m excited to be sharing a free SVG  file for the Lime Crush Soda Crate along with my project today. To learn how to make your own DIY Vintage Soda Crate just keep reading!

I don’t know if you have noticed but all summer long Cricut has been sharing projects in their design space and in “blog land” inspired by different colors.  They asked me to jump in on the fun and design a project around the color lime. To see all of the great lime-themed projects in the design space just hop on over to the Cricut Design Space Page.

About the Project

As I was brainstorming about what project to make, I kept coming back to an actual LIME, not just the color lime.   I’ve always been enamored with vintage soda crates and have a few in my collection at home.

The only problem with vintage soda crates is that they are, well,  vintage.  I have a really cool Coca-Cola crate that I love but is covered in all kinds of dust and goo that I can’t seem to remove.

Wanting a fun farmhouse home decor-inspired centerpiece for my kitchen table this summer that was not covered in dust, I decided that instead of searching for a vintage soda crate in great condition I’d just make one myself!

DIY Farmhouse Decor Project, How to Make a Vintage Soda Crate

I designed the cut file myself and will share it with you today. To get it just head on over to the Cricut Library page for directions.

Cricut SVG File: Note: all files in the Library are for personal use only. You may not sell items you make with the files. To get these files into the Cricut Design space, you need to visit OUR CRICUT LIBRARY and follow the directions. When prompted, select the button and save the file as an SVG to your computer. Please do not open it in a new window. It will load as an image, not an SVG. Next, go to the Cricut Design Space page with your browser. Select NEW when the screen pops up; select IMAGE. Then select – upload. Upload the image you obtained. It’s ready to use in Design Space!

Vintage Soda Crate Craft Supplies

• Wood Crate (mine is from IKEA)
• Dark Wood Stain
• White Acrylic Paint
• Lime Green Acrylic Paint
• Sandpaper
• Cricut Machine- This project was made on a Cricut Explore Machine.
• Cricut Vinyl (the color does not matter; you’re using it as a stencil) & Cricut Transfer Tape

• Cricut Maker 3 (you can get great deals on machine bundles on Cricut.com)
• Roll Holder for Maker 3
• Cricut EasyPress (I like the large size the best): Make sure you get the EasyPress mat as well.
• Cricut Weeding Tools: (I use the small hook tool ALL the time, making weeding vinyl so much easier).
• Cricut BrightPad: A cordless, flat, bright lightbox. I use it to weed Cricut vinyl and use it all the time to trace applique shapes for sewing & quilting.
• Cricut Iron On Vinyl
• Cricut Permanent Vinyl

Instructions

Step One:

Stain the entire crate with a dark wood stain.

After you’ve stained the crate and it’s dry,  paint it with white acrylic paint. You’ll need a few coats to cover the entire crate. I did not paint the inside of my crate.

Cut Out your Stencil

Import the downloaded file into the Cricut Design Space.  On the right-hand side of the screen select on all of the elements in the design at once and select “ATTACH”.  This will ensure that the design cuts as one piece and not individual elements. Measure your crate and resize your image accordingly in the design space.

How to Create the Stencil with Your Cricut

Next set your machine to “vinyl”, and load the Cricut vinyl onto the cutting at and into the machine. Select the Cricut button.

After the image is cut out, remove the negative elements so that you have a stencil.

Place a piece of Cricut transfer tape on top of your cut image.  Then, peel the cut image off of the plastic carrier sheet.

Line up the stencil on the crate and apply. Use a credit card or flat object to ensure that the vinyl is stuck to the crate well, then remove the transfer tape.

How to Paint the Crate

Paint over the stencil with acrylic paint. It will take 2-3 coats.

After the paint has dried, remove the stencil and distress the crate with sandpaper.

You’re done!

Now, all you have to do is fill it with pretty flowers!

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