Faux Vintage Crate Signs

Faux Vintage Crate Signs

Faux Vintage Crate Signs

I love vintage seed packet art work.

Just Google ‘vintage seed packet art’ and you will get an eyeful of colorful and fun images.

I can’t really explain why I enjoy it so much…

but it just might be because it combines two of my favorite activities…

Gardening and Painting so building these Faux Vintage Crate signs was pure joy.

It took me a while to get these done, much longer than I really wanted…..

not because they were hard, not at all, it is just that life happens.

First I am going to share how I built the faux crate type surface.

I am not sure what to call them.

They are supposed to mimic the ends of a wood crate.

So here goes.

First cut your lumber to size.

I used 1 x 6’s and 1 x 4’s in pine.

I cut them to 18 1/4 inches.

I chose that number as I thought that was what the dimension of the boards stacked together would equal but once I got them all attached it only came to a wee bit under 18″, I was going for a square but since this is not rocket science or brain surgery a bit off is just fine by me.

I started the top with a 1 x 4 then used 2 -1 x 6’s , then the last is a 1 x 4.

clear as mud?— thank goodness for photos

I used 1 x 2 furring strips to make the frame and cut 2 the same dimension as the boards combined height which ended up being just a hair shorter than 18 inches.

I applied a good amount of wood glue to the unstained back side of the furring strips.

Oh, did I fail to mention I stained the wood?

I stained the boards with MinWax Dark Walnut stain before I cut them.

I used a well worn old paint brush to apply the glue.

Be careful not to get too much on it, you really don’t want the glue squishing out when you screw the furring strip to the boards.

Once you get the furring strip all lined up on the edge of your boards, then screw it down.

I used 1 1/4″ screws in black so they would be dark like the wood.

I spaced them so they would fall close to the center of the boards underneath.

Do this on both sides of the sign.

Now measure the distance between the 1 x 2 strips already screwed on.

Do this at both the top and the bottom.

The dimension can be different and since it is a snug fit you need to get it right.

The top of mine was just a 1/16 of an inch narrower than the bottom.

Cut the next two top furring strips to fit your dimensions.

Once you have applied the glue as before then screw them on.

Keep checking that you are lined up with the edges of the boards beneath.

One thing I failed to do was stain the ends of the cut boards before assembling the crate sign.

I will be sure to do so the next time around.

But they were easy enough to do later.

Clean up any glue that oozes out before it dries.

And before you know it you have one of these..

It is all ready to paint on your design.

I will post that next time so come on back!

Just in case you want to Pin this project, here is a nice sized image.

click here to see how to paint the radish and carrot

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Original article and pictures take www.flowerpatchfarmhouse.com site