This is our first post from Krista from The Happy Housie. Check out her step-by-step tutorial for beautifying your storage boxes.

Hello everyone!! I am Krista from The Happy Housie and I am thrilled to be a part of the Country Chic Blog Squad this year. I have loved working with Country Chic Paint for the few projects I have done so far and can't wait to get my hands dirty doing a few more projects really soon! Today I am here to share how I made these Dry Brushed and Distressed Numbered Crates using Country Chic Paint in Simplicity and Elegance.



As I said, I spend most of my blogging time over at The Happy Housie . I called my blog this because I think of myself as a "housie"; someone whose hobby and passion is all kinds of house related stuff like decorating, crafting, organizing, and DIY projects... like these easy and cute distressed numbered crates.

To make these I used:

• wooden crates (I bought mine at Walmart for $8 each)
• wood stain
• Country Chic Paint in Simplicity
• Country Chic Paint in Elegance
• a computer print out of my numbers
• a pencil

Step One: Dry brush the Crate in Simplicity

I started out by giving the crate a coat of wood stain and letting it dry. Once dry, I used a thick craft paint brush to 'dry brush' on a coat of Simplicity.

To dry brush, simply dip your brush in the paint, then remove the excess by dragging the brush along the edge of the paint container. You can also remove the excess by dragging the dipped paint brush onto an old rag.

Once your brush is quite 'dry', apply the paint onto the crate spreading it out as much as possible until all the paint is off of your brush.



Once the dry brushing is complete, your crate will look something like this....



You really can't go wrong with this, because if the paint goes on too heavy, it is easy to remove it with a damp cloth (especially within the first hour after painting). Once the dry brushed crate(s) are "dry" it is time to move onto...

Step Two: Stenciling the Numbers

Start by printing out some numbers that you like on regular printer paper.



Flip the paper over and use a pencil to fill in the number on the BACK of the page... by doing this you are, in effect, creating your own 'transfer paper'. It should look like this on the back side of the paper:



Then position a number on one of the crates (with the printed side facing up towards you and the penciled side against the crate). Trace over the number outline with your pencil and it will magically transfer the pencil onto your crate, creating an outline of the number directly on your piece.



Step Three: Painting and Distressing the Numbering

Once all the numbering has been outlined on the crates, simply fill in the numbers using your paint (I used Elegance) and a small craft brush. Don't be nervous- it doesn't have to be perfect because you can disguise imperfections when you distress it later.



Once the numbers have been painted, let them dry for less then an hour, and then distress them using a slightly damp cloth. Just press your cloth down where you wish to distress the paint and gently rub back and forth like you are doing some cleaning. Use gentle pressure at first until you get comfortable with how much pressure you need to use to get the look you want.



Here you can see where I removed the paint...



Step Four: Waxing

Let your paint dry overnight and then apply a coat of Clear Wax using (ideally) a Wax Brush. This was my first project using an actual Wax Brush rather then a cloth to apply wax and it went on like a dream. I LOVE my Wax Brush and wish I had gotten one months ago. Let the wax dry for a little while (I let it dry for around an hour) and then buffed it off using a clean, lint free cloth.



All done!





I love how these look below my DIY window bench in our living room - they are the perfect spot to store books and puzzles for my boys and give quick and easy access for cleaning up!



Thanks for reading. And remember, my housie friends, HOME isn't built in a day. Enjoy the journey.