Clementine Crate Ribbon Rack

My family loves clementines (... ahem... *I* love clementines, but the others like them too...)  So, we often are left with these...

I hated just throwing them away.  For months I've been trying to figure out a use for them.  

Then while trying to organize my crafts a little, it came to me.  

I made this...

A RIBBON crate!

Needs:

Clementine crate, with papers and mesh removed

drill and 1/4" drill bit

1/4" dowels (bought in a bag of several)

paint

patterned paper

Mod Podge & brush

Distress Ink

Sharpie (or label)

Steps:

First, I drilled a few holes.  They were about 1" down from the top and about 3" in from the sides.... all drilled on the long side of the crate.

Then I painted the crates... in this case, a dark taupe.  You can probably sand it down a bit to make it less rustic, but I liked the rustic appeal.

Then I decoupaged a piece of paper to the side (look familiar?  Yup... it's a leftover piece from my Easter plaque.)

Then I decoupaged a little white sign that reads "ribbons", 

distressed it a little using Distress Ink (I picked that up after reading about it so much in Kierste's blog, Brown Paper Packages), 

added a few little ribbons to the dowels, 

popped the dowels into the holes... and wah-lah... a ribbon crate.  

The cool thing with this is that once I make a few more, they will be stackable (see the little posts that stick up in the corners?)

A side view...

Front view...

Gotta go buy some more clementines now to make a whole stack of them!