The Wine Crate: One Box, So Many Ways...

This DIY project is one that I’ve wanted to write about for quite some time now. I was first introduced the fantastic object that is the wine crate box a few years ago from my friend Megan, who was working for a wine distributor. Wine bottles travel from vineyard to distributor to local store in gorgeous wood boxes and that are more than often tossed into the trash after they’ve reached their final destination. But, wine and beer shops like Total Wine sell them for the awesomely cheap price of only $5 per box. These nifty little pieces of wine country have endless amounts of value to even the most minimally skilled DIY’er. Here are a few uses I have found for them:

Wine crates make excellent planter boxes. Living on a second floor apartment, I don’t have much dirt to play around in and had been looking for a simple way to add more greenery to my balcony. I grabbed about 4 or 5 boxes from Total Wine and brought them home – along with some potting soil and a few seedlings. I simply drilled holes in the bottom of the boxes (to allow for water drainage) and then planted my seedlings. I wanted to sit the boxes on the railing of the balcony so I drilled two screws into each side of each box and ran some wire from one screw to the other, going under the railing edge. The wire and screw technique ended up adding a great aesthetic detail as well as keeping the boxes firmly in place! Total cost was around $60, including the plants, soil, wire and boxes. Not too bad for your very own balcony garden! Not to worry about the changing seasons either – there are tons of fall weather plants that can survive the chilly nights!

This post is the first in a DIY series by Christie for Gungho Guides' Blogho.

Read the entire post over at the Blogho. Stay tuned twice a month for the rest of the DIY series!

Christie Thompson