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    Home » reclaimed wood » Leather Belt Crate

    Leather Belt Crate

    Published by Gail | Published January 23, 2015 | Updated December 27, 2022
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    Repurpose your old belts and scrap wood into a unique and useful leather belt crate! Step by step directions so you can DIY it! #MyRepurposedLife #MyLove2Create #repurpose #upcycle #belt #crate via @repurposedlife

    Hey everyone, it's Mindi again from MyLove2Create, with a leather belt crate project for you!

    Last week I had a moment of insanity and started ripping out my small hall closet, because I couldn't stand it's total lack of effectiveness any longer.

    In the process, I decided I needed a crate at the bottom of "said closet", and so that is what I am going to share with you today, my Repurposed Leather Belt Crate!

    MyLove2Create leather belt crate


    My closet is in white and dark wood tones and so I was thinking along this mind set.

    thrifted leather belts

    I have a habit of collecting old leather belts, they make great handles for DIY Crates, so I pick them up at thrift stores and garage sales when I find them really cheap. Like less than $2 cheap. You can see one has been mostly used, the small one on the top, I used it on one of my DIY Gift Crates.

    left over crib pieces

    I also had these left over parts from my Repurposed Crib Dog Crate that I shared here on MRL not too long ago.

    So I set to work building with what I had. First,  I measured the space where I was planing on putting my crate, and made my cuts accordingly.

    Wood cut for building crate frame

    All the boards were from scraps!

    Drilling pocket holes

    To make life easier I busted out my Christmas present my new K5, Kreg Jig! My husband knows me well! 🙂  I drilled pocket holes at the required length, which was about 1 ⅜ inches for my boards.

    Making front and back frames with pocket holes

    Next up was attaching the front and back frames with my 2 inch pocket hole screws. I would be lost without my Right angle clamps, best purchase ever!

    Quick tip:  When using reclaimed wood ALWAYS drill SLOWLY. I forgot and split the wood on my first attempt (I just get so excited to build!) and had to glue and clamp. I went slow with the rest and had no problems. It is amazing how many times I forget this tip...really amazing.

    Need more details on using a Kreg Jig? See my article How to use a Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System

    attaching crate frame with side boards

    Then I attached my side pieces. I started with two and then added the other sides. Once all four were attached I flipped it over and attached them to the other white frame. My oldest son came home for lunch and snapped a shot of me.

    If you are wondering why I am building in my kitchen...it is a common thing in the winter at my house, I  know bet my husband doesn't appreciate it. Well I didn't appreciate the blizzard raging outside....where my shed happens to be. In the freezing cold.

    making sure crate fits in new home

    After I got my crate frame built I quickly placed it in it's future home, fits like a glove!

    measuring and cutting crate bottom

    Then I headed back to the frozen tundra to cut a crate bottom. I grabbed a scrap piece of plywood and set my crate on top. I traced my shape and cut it with my circular saw. After that, I attached it with gorilla wood glue and finish nails. Apparently I was too cold to stop and take a photo of that process, sorry. The bottom is inset, so I just nailed through the outside of the frame into the plywood.

    Ok, let me tell you why I was so cold.

    When I said I nailed in the crate bottom I used a nail gun but not my favorite nail gun, my Ryobi. I couldn't get it to shoot out the nails and spent FOREVER trouble shooting, it has happened before but after adjusting things I got it to work so I figured it would this time as well. Nope. After at least an hour I gave up in frustration and got out my old nail gun and air compressor. Ugh. Ok, moving' on.

    measuring for crib slats

    I then set to work measuring and cutting all the crib slats for the back and sides of the crate. They were ready to go...and I ended up taking everything inside, air compressor and nail gun included. Burr.

    I took my slats, measured where they should be placed, marked all the sides, and started to glue and nail on slat number one.

    And that is as far as I got. I had approximately 8 or 9 rouge nails protruding from everywhere around the slat. Seriously?! I think one or two actually made their mark...I gave up.

    Time to go to plan #2. Oh wait, I didn't have a plan #2. This is when I get desperate, improvise, and hope it works. Hopeful,  I went and grabbed some more 2x2 scraps, and had just enough to do this...

    adding 2x2 boards onto crate

    I cut them to size and glued and nailed one in the front and back, and three on each of the sides.

    holes and cracks filled with spackle, ready to paint

    Then I filled all holes with spackle, and got a little crazy with it, filling every seam and crack too. After sanding it down I went to my spray paint stash and was sing praises for the can of white I found. After all I had just gone through, I did not want to paint this by hand. So I sprayed it! Yippee!

    Creating a V pattern with leather belts

    After the paint dried I brought it in for my leather belt treatment. I had thought of several different options of what I could do, but I liked the arrow idea the best. I grabbed my thickest belt and started in the middle. Cutting at an angle and and using carpet tacks to nail the belts into the wood I created my arrow pattern.

    cutting leather belts with rolling fabric cutter

    I have tried to cut leather belts with scissors before and it is not easy (well some are, but some are not). So I gave my sewing stuff a try and guess what? It was like cutting through butter! Sometimes I would do it on my cutting mat with my roller, and other times I would use a scrap wood under the belt to cut it. I found it easiest to lay the belt where it needed to be, then using my ruler and my cutter I would lightly mark where to cut, and then use one of the methods above to cut all the way through.

    Using Carpet tacks to attach leather belts

    You can buy a box of carpet tacks at Walmart for 97 cents. I had a box that I had used for my DIY Magazine Rack, and used those and some out of new box. They have a fun rustic industrial look and are super cheap!

    using felt pads on the bottom of the crate

    And here is a shot inside the crate, it will hold lots of stuff!

    MyLove2Create leather belt crate

    Mine will be in my hall closet, but it would look great anywhere in the home! Here it is with my boots and purse, ready for me as I walk out the door.

    MyLove2Create leather belt crate

    This will be it's actual new home, which I will finish up in the next few days so be sure and stop by MyLove2Create for the reveal!

    MyLove2Create leather belt crate

    Here is a shot of the back, the belts are slightly different than the front.

    MyLove2Create leather belt crate

    There you have it, a fun Leather Belt Crate! I love the way it turned out and feel like despite my difficulties it was all worth it in the end!

    So have you repurposed leather belts, I would love to hear your ideas.

    Hugs,

    Mindi
    see more of Mindi's posts on MRL here

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    About Mindi

    Mindi is a wife, mother, runner, dancer, and a lover of all things fun and DIY.

    A few years ago she discovered blogs and fell in love with the idea that she could do things she had always dreamed of doing. Like build furniture from pallets, and make cool projects for her home.... Mindi was inspired by other bloggers that empowered her to create.

    Mindi decided to give back and possibly reach someone out there that has a desire to create like herself. She believes we all have that desire in some form or another, and we all DO create in our own way, every day. Whether it be crafty or not, even creating happiness in others is a gift that many share.

    Mindi loves to learn and use that knowledge to make beautiful and useful things for her home.

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    1. chris

      January 11, 2017 at 5:53 pm

      freaking awesome xx

      Reply
    2. Linda Weeks

      August 17, 2016 at 5:38 pm

      I really like reusing leather belts! I am holding onto mine until I figure someway to use them... like this! I think I have maybe 4 of them at present. Good project!

      Reply
    3. Crystal

      April 27, 2015 at 10:28 pm

      Who would have thought you could do this with a set of old belts? Very creative. And I'm really glad to know there is an easy way to cut one if I ever need to because just poking a hole through one is an arduous task!

      Reply
    4. Bliss

      January 24, 2015 at 9:56 am

      Seriously? Jeez how do you come up with this stuff Mindi? I have a pile of old belts and never in a million years would I have thought of this, and it's awesome. So yeah, I pinned it.

      Reply
    5. Pam

      January 23, 2015 at 3:17 pm

      Where do you come up with all this stuff? LOL...great job.

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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