Today I’m thrilled, and totally nervous, to post as part of Crafty Night Owls fun 14 Days of Love series! And, Carrie from Crafty Night Owls is as sweet in person as she is on her blog.
I love the month of February for all of its incredible love-inspired recipes, romantic date ideas, and Valentine projects. (Personally, I believe no Valentine’s Day is complete without chocolate-covered strawberries!)
I’m blessed to have the opportunity to spend Valentine’s Day with three handsome fellas:
‘BOO’
‘PANTS’
‘BABELY’
As I considered what I would share as part of Carrie’s 14 Days of Love, one idea in particular materialized and stuck.
It wasn’t what I expected to stick. But, the more I thought about it the more I loved it—as a way to infuse a very ordinary task with a little extra love.
In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.
You find the fun, and snap—the job’s a game.
MARY POPPINS
LOADS OF LOVE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
Laundry is one job I never seem to catch up with.
Ever.
Typically, I’m still doing laundry after I’ve put the boys to bed—and once they’re finally in bed and quiet, I don’t mess with a good thing.
Inevitably this means piles of folded clothes outside of their bedroom door. Some of us have a ‘laundry chair’ and some of us do this:
I needed a better solution.
3-STEP WOOD LAUNDRY CRATE
1|
SAND down a pair of unfinished wooden crates.
Plastic containers can break. Fabric bins can lose their shape.
Personally, I think wooden crates are in and wood is fairly easy to fix and freshen up.
2|
STAIN
After brushing away all of the sawdust, I applied Minwax Express Color Wiping Stain and Finish in Walnut to the exterior of the crate with ‘wiping cloths’ [aka. t-shirt scraps].
I love how simple to use this stain is.
Seriously.
Wipe on and wipe off.
Use a Q-Tip or a small, inexpensive craft foam brush or paint brush to apply the stain between the slats of the crate.
3|
PAINT
I wanted the interior of the crate to be easy to clean.
I used an inexpensive craft foam brush to apply a double coat of semi-gloss Glidden latex paint to the inside of the crate.
4|
FINISHING TOUCHES
For a hint of shimmer, I painted the top edges with a gold metallic acrylic craft paint.
For me, the fun of this project comes with all of the little extras you can leave.
The magic is in the details.
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Cute idea Audra! I too leave piles of folded clothes outside my daughters door when she is sleeping. This is a perfect solution!
Thanks Tia!
Yup, totally leave the folded laundry outside their doors over here. Mostly because we want a couch to sit on for couple time. 🙂
Adding the gold sounds like a fun touch! How are they working out so far?
It’s working great. The clothes are staying in the crate until morning when I have a chance to put them away. Vs. getting kicked around and inevitably thrown back into the laundry because I can’t remember if I washed them or not! 🙂