Wooden Caddy from Bed Slats

Hello My Repurposed Life fans, it’s Joan from Scavenger Chic once again. I actually have 2 projects for you this month, a wooden storage caddy and painted canning jars.

When I first saw this bundle of wood at the local thrift store, I actually thought it was a set of wooden blinds.  But now that I’ve gotten the bundle home and unwrapped, I’m thinking, bed slats.

 

While it was a nice stack of wood and only $2, I couldn’t imagine any project I would do with this wood that I wouldn’t do with my trusty pallet wood. I passed up this little find and went about my normal errands.

My next stop was Hobby Lobby, my favorite stop for knobs and handles. I was just finishing up my coffee table made from a hand truck and I needed a couple of vintage looking handles. That is where I spy this little cutie. 

My first thought was, “I can make that”, and  “that wood I just passed up would work perfectly”.  Actually, pallet wood would probably work just as well, but it would need a bit more sanding.

Back to the thrift store, which was luckily just around the corner.

Starting with the lower part of the box.  Cut four 23 1/2″ slats and  four 9″ slats.

I’m going to give you my measurements but depending on the thickness of the wood you use, whether pallet wood, bed slats or 1×3’s, your cuts may vary a bit.

Sand and attach with finish nails and wood glue to make 2 rectangles as shown above.

Measure the inside of your box and cut 4 more slats.  Since my wood was 1/2″ thickness, my interior boards measured 22 1/2″.  Again, sand, nail and glue into place as shown above.

Cut eight more pieces of slats, this time the width of your dividers. They should be about 4 inches wide.  Nail and glue to the outside board and use just glue for the inside (you won’t be able to get your nail gun in there).

Cut four additional slats about 13″ in height for your corners.

Sand well, and once again, use a generous amount of wood glue and nails to attach.  The nails should go into the side pieces where the wood is the thickest.

Measure from outside corner piece to outside corner piece  and use that measurement to cut 2 additional slats. If you’re using my measurements, they should be about 9 1/2 inches wide.

Use wood glue and clamps to attach.

The last 2 pieces to cut…once again measure the distance from corner to corner of the pieces you just clamped. Mine were just over 24″

Sand, glue and nail.

All finished.  You can leave it as is or paint or stain to match your decor. I ended up staining mine a dark walnut.

I have one more project for you, painted canning jars. If you don’t have canning jars you could also use spaghetti sauce jars. I believe Classico spaghetti sauce sells their sauce in Mason jars.

Gather up your canning jars and white chalk paint.

Turn the jars over on your work surface and give your jar 2 coats of the white chalk paint.  When dry, sand off all of the raised areas.

Use the painted canning jars to decorate your new wooden caddy.

Of course it could also be used to hold wine, craft supplies, picnic items, desk supplies…the choice is yours.

Did I mention that the caddy at Hobby Lobby was $65, mine was $2. Now I know you’ll want to make one.

Joan

See more of Joan’s projects below: