Father’s Day Done Right: How to Make Your Own “Manly” Gift Crate

Skip that wrapping paper and put together a memorable gift crate for Father’s Day. Here’s a hot sauce filled wooden crate that will make you his favorite kid for yet another year.   Taking the crate I made last week and customizing it was a fun project. Since every box is different, here’s a brief rundown on what I did to make it a one-of-a-kind piece that will definitely stick around.

I wanted the crate to feel a bit travelled and to look weathered so I decided to add some lettering and logos, and a rough faded whitewash to age the wood.

1. Dark Finish – I stained the pieces with a Red Mohagany to give the light wood some consistency, it also makes the next step really pop.

2. Whitewash – I used some old grey/white paint mixed with water to give the surfaces a light, textured feel.

3. Stenciling – Printed text was traced on the wood, leaving an impression. The impression was used as a guide to fill in with black paint. The logo was a bit harder due to the thin areas so I used a Dremel tool to trace the lines and leave an impression (fill the impression with black paint and sand off to leave a clean imprinted logo).

4. Final Whitewash and Smoothing – After all lettering was applied and dry, a final wipe-down with the whitewash rag and a buffing with a Brillo pad left the surface smooth and finished.

With the box dry, clean and fully finished it’s time to talk about what we put into it.  My Dad is a hot-sauce guy. If it’s spicy, he’s all about it so this collection of heat is perfect for him:

1. Twelve different hot sauces, including BBQ sauce

2. Two spicy rib rubs

3. A Jar of Habernero-stuffed olives

4. Two Spicy Sausages

5. 1 Bag of buffalo-spiced chips

I originally was going to use shredded newspaper to pack the goods, but I had a bag of cedar shavings from a project that looked so much better. Part of the fun of receiving a package like this is opening it up, so I nailed the lid on to make the process part of the gift. So while you’re shopping for your dad this week, make the package part of the memory and go for something with a bit of custom character.