Anne of Green Gables: Herb Crates

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We seem to be having a hard time letting go of our Anne girl. So we've decided to just stay with her as long as it takes to finish up the projects she's inspired us to do. I hope that makes you as happy as it makes me. :)

“It always amazes me to look at the little, wrinkled brown seeds and think of the rainbows in 'em," said Captain Jim. "When I ponder on them seeds I don't find it nowise hard to believe that we've got souls that'll live in other worlds. You couldn't hardly believe there was life in them tiny things, some no bigger than grains of dust, let alone colour and scent, if you hadn't seen the miracle, could you?” 
-Anne's House of Dreams, Lucy Maude Montgomery

When I think of Anne, I think of gardens and beautiful flowers and cooking and all good things. Here's a quick project that seemed to run in that same vein.

I have seen these herb crates around for a pretty penny, and I love them love them love them. So I decided to use scrap wood today and put it to some use. I cut 5- 12 in. lengths of 1X3, and then two-4 1/4" lengths of 1X3. You could do this with any size of wood really, you just need to make a basic box, and a print out (On regular old paper) of what you'd like on it. Here's one I made with the ingredients for fines herbes.

Now I assembled the box with plain old nails. We are going for rustic here (my favorite excuse for imperfections.)

Then I colored the backside of my letters with pencil.  (You can't really see this in the pictures, but don't skip it. Color the backside of the letters first!)
Then I turned the paper over and traced the front side of the letters, pressing hard so it would make the graphite show on the wood.
When that was done, I colored it all in with a sharpie
I waited a few minutes for the sharpie to be nice and dry, and sanded it for a weathered look
Then I stained it (Red Mahogany) and immediately wiped the stain off.

And voila! Perfect for plates, silverware, herbs, or whatever you can think of! Best part: it cost me $0.00. That's right! Even if you don't have the materials, I figure this would cost you roughly $5.00 to make three of these. Not too shabby at all :)

Linking up:
French Country Cottage - At The Picket Fence - Stuff and Nonsense - Whipperberry - Shabby Nest - My Romantic Home - From My Front Porch to Yours - One Artsy Mama - Savvy Southern Style -Jennifer Rizzo - Beyond the Picket Fence - Thrifty 101-  Southern Hospitality Blog -