Repurposing old wine crates to make a spirits dispenser

I had previously used some old wine crates to create a unique feature for a rustic drinks cabinet. The crate centrepiece with the wine’s vintage created a display feature on the front of the cabinet. I loved the way it looked and it gave some style and a nice personal touch to the cabinet.

Afterwards, there were some leftover wooden pieces from the box that I hadn’t used. These were tongue and groove style boards. They slotted together to form the rest of the wooden crate. The boards were relatively lightweight and I’d just left them in storage thinking they may be useful at some point.

I’d decided upon the idea of making another drinks related centrepiece to hang on the wall above the drinks cabinet. There were plenty of ideas for inspirations on Pinterest, and I decided upon a whisky/spirits dispenser.

The old leftover wine crate boards would be great for this project. They would tie in the new dispenser nicely with the cabinet.

I wanted to create something that would standout, with another unique feature. So, I ordered a stencil of the Jameson’s Whisky logo. I would then spray this logo onto the wood using spray paint.

After sanding down the wooden boards, I used wax to apply a finish. They came up really nicely. The stencil was applied with black spray paint. Again, this came out better than expected for a first attempt. Although, it did need a few minor adjustments when some of the paint had moved outside of the stencil.

Dispensers were also necessary to finish it off. I ordered these from Argos and attached them to the boards.

It definitely added some character to the wall and complimented the drinks cabinet nicely. I think the finish using the beeswax has helped to age the boards. This gives it a more vintage feel. Like it once belonged to some sort of Jameson’s crate or something similar.

I was also really happy with the addition of the stencil. This was something I hadn’t tried before.

At the moment, it is hung on the wall very lightly so it’s not ready for any dispensing just yet. Watch this space for future drinks related content!