How To Transfer Images To Wood

How To Transfer Images To Wood Crates
Once upon a time there was a girl who loved cool old junk. One day her village decided to get rid of all the junk by having a clean-up day. The curbs overflowed with antique furniture and galvanized buckets. The girl was so happy. Especially when she scored not one, but TWO old, weathered wooden crates.

For years, the crates sat on her shelves. And the girl thought about doing some kind of project with them. Should she paint them? But she couldn't bring herself to change their weathered loveliness. Until one day, when she saw an old coffee crate on Pinterest and it gave her an idea!
Okay, seriously, it felt like a fairytale moment when I found these cute little crates. I really couldn't decide what to do with them... until now! And you can do it, too. Let's take a look at how I transferred graphics to my old, wooden crates.

Gather Supplies
First, I gathered some supplies: a spoon, a paintbrush, a glass and a reverse print-out of my graphic which I got from The Graphics Fairy here. I altered it in Photoshop to fit my crates and added a year at the bottom. And of course, the main ingredient: Citra Solv. This is a delicious cleaner that smells like oranges and heaven. It is made with essential oils and is great for getting goo and grease off pretty much anything. It also works as an image transfer agent. Handy!

Transfer the Image
Next, I placed the image ink-side down on my crate, centering it, and securing it with tape. Then I lightly dipped the brush in the Citra Solv and brushed it across the paper. Finally, I rubbed the image with the back of the spoon to transfer it to the wood. Easy peasy!

Of course, the image isn't perfectly crisp, but it matches the faded look of each crate. Now, who is going to try this?