A May Crate for Mom

"You're right, no human being would stack books like this."

                                                       (Ghostbusters; 1984)

My mom loves books but her bookcase is usually a mess, ‘cause she reads many books at the same time. That’s why I came up with the idea to make something that could keep them in order even when they’re not on the bookshelf. If you can find a small crate in a nearby marketplace, in this tutorial I will show you how you can make it into an elegant bookstand. It’s a perfect occasion to learn the decoupage technique. And since soon it’s Mother’s Day in Poland,  it’s my proposition for a present.

difficulty:easy
estimated time: about 4 hours (including drying)

You need:

• a small wooden crate 
• white acrylic paint
• paper napkins with a pattern on a white background
• nail scissors
• a piece of sand paper
• vinyl or wallpaper adhesive (I'm usng wallpaper one, because it's easier to make corrections when something goes wrong)
• transparent varnish

Optionally:

• carbon paper
• a redundant piece of a paper napkin
• a printout of the sentence you want to put on the crate
• a ball pen 
• a tape

Tutorial Steps:

1. Paint the crate with the white paint and leave it to dry. I put 2-3 layers of paint.

2. Cut out the patterns from the napkins and remove the white layers from them. It will make easier for the pattern to blend in the structure of the crate. 

3. Prepare the wallpaper adhesive if you decided to use it – it should be dense like a jelly. If you decided to use the vinyl adhesive add a little bit of water to it. Cover the places where you want to stick the patterns.

4. Gently place the patterns. Make sure there are no bubbles. Cover the surface of the patterns with the adhesive.

5. On the other side of the sentence, stick a piece of carbon paper with its carbon side facing upwards and a piece of the napkin on it (with the pattern facing upwards as well). Put the sentence on a book with a hardcover and trace the inscription.

6. Remove the last layer of the napkin with the sentence and stick it to the crate, the same way as in Step  4.

7. Cover the whole crate with varnish and leave it to dry. After that, sand the crate and varnish it again. Repeat this until the napkin patterns blend in the texture of the crate (the edges should be invisible).

Downloadables:

- Printable version (pdf)

Next week: Fallout Earrings