Make It Healthy: How to Upcycle A Wine Crate

Ok, so I know what you’re saying…why in the world would I want to upcycle or repurpose my WINE RACK into anything else?!?

I luurve wine and was super excited to make this wine crate at January’s Home Depot DIH (Do-It-Herself) Workshop. But if you’re anything like me, the wine doesn’t stay in the house long enough to store it anywhere. I know me and I knew this thing wasn’t going to get a lot of use for what it was built…because hey, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere! Keeping that in mind, I decided to upcycle my project into a seedling starter container!

I really wanted to make sure that I got a lot of use out of my project and I think this idea might do the trick! Also, I live in Memphis and most instructions for planting require that you do it when the temperatures are just right:

It’s 77° here today and it’s scheduled to drop back into the 40s in less than 2 weeks. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it snows in April. It could happen. So for folks in locations where the weather isn’t quite ready to make up its mind, this is a great way to get a head start on your gardening!

To make this project, you will need different supplies for the different steps. Make sure to check out the full tutorial on how to make the dividers here on the Home Depot site.

To make the beverage crate:

• 1 pre-made wooden crate
• 1 quart polyurethane clear stain (optional)
• 1 quart wood stain (optional)
• old cloth rags
• 1 sheet 3/16 inch birch plywood
• Finish sander or sand paper
• Jigsaw
• Pencil
• Measuring tape
• Ruler

To upcycle it to a seedling starter:

• 12 glass cylinder vases
• Potting soil
• gravel (optional)
• seeds

Since this was a workshop, and we had limited time, our awesome instructor had the birch plywood already notched for us to complete our project. Purchase, stain and we were good to go!

1. Acquire a pre-made crate from Home Depot or local gardening store.

2. Use the sandpaper to smooth out the wooden surfaces.

3. Stain the crate and the dividers.

4. Use the old cloth to wipe off the excess stain. Repeat staining, if desired. Let dry completely.

READY TO UPCYCLE?

5. Take a glass cylinder and fill 1/2 way with gravel. (I added a bit of water so I would have extra for the roots, without over saturating the soil.)

6. Put potting soil on top of the gravel, filling another 1/4 of the way.

7. Add seeds, loosely covering with more potting soil.

8. Add water to moisten the soil. If you used the rocks, the water will go through the soil and down to the bottom, but that’s ok! The roots will seek out the water and stretch out 🙂 Cover with about 1/2′ of additional soil.

9. Keep them in the sunshine and wait for the yumminess to grow!

I have a black thumb. And not in the “check the appropriate box” sort of way, but that in I will kill pretty much any plant in my care…

Cactus? Dead. Aloe plant? Brought back from the brink a few times. That vine thing that people say is impossible to kill? I’ve killed 3.

In order to try and keep my garden going, I made some notes on the ID card. I really want this whole little project to work, so the note cards are my little guide to help me out in this endeavor. I took the growing tips from the back of the seed packet and made notes:

“Germinate 3-5 days, harvest 60-65 days, keep well watered, plenty of sunshine, try not to kill it…”

That reminds me, I should probably invest in a gardening calendar…

Do you have any gardening tips for me? Let me know in the comments below! Seriously, I can use all the help I can get…

I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the Do-It-Herself (DIH) Program. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting TheHome Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.