DIY Paint Sticks Bushel Basket

By: Katie Enzenberger
October 14, 2015

I am so excited that fall is finally here!  This is my favorite time of year.  I just love the cooler weather, cozy sweaters, pretty colors and amazing produce.  Any time I think of a farmer's market or harvest time, it reminds me of all the local apple orchards where I live.  I came up with the idea to make a DIY Paint Sticks Bushel Basket to decorate my house with this fall.  I am thrilled how the bushel basket turned out.  What do you think?  You can make you very own and add your favorite fall decor inside.  Pumpkins would also be perfect.

Items needed:

• Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint 8oz - Relic
• Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint 8oz - Primitive
• 16 paint sticks
• 8" wooden embroidery hoop
• 6" wooden embroidery hoop
• hot glue gun
• assorted paint brushes
• foam board
• scissors

Instructions:

I went to my local hardware store and asked if I could purchase 20 paint sticks.  The lady at the store was gracious enough to just give them to me for free.  Make sure you ask before taking.

I used the inside ring of the 6 inch embroidery hoop as the base of the bushel basket.  I hot glued each paint stick individually to the inside of the hoop leaving a slight gap in between each paint stick.  You want to tilt the paint sticks out slightly, otherwise your basket will be straight up and down.  This may be tricky, just use lots of hot glue and hold the sticks in place until they are completely dry.

Once I glued all of the paint sticks to the bottom 6 inch embroidery hoop, I repeated the process on the top.  I placed the 8 inch embroidery hoop around the paint stick handles and hot glued the hoop in place.

This is what the bushel basket should look like once the paint sticks are glued to the embroidery hoops.

I added a bottom to the basket by cutting a piece of used foam board I already had and glued it inside the basket.

Once the bushel basket was completely assembled, I painted it.  I painted the entire basket using one coat of Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint 2 oz in Relic.  This is a beautiful dark gray color.

To add a distressed look to the basket, I used a light dry brushing of Americana Decor Chalky Paint 2 oz in Primitive around the edges and front of the basket.  This light gray color not only breaks up the bold darker gray but adds a nice distressed look.

How do you think it turned out?

I added a piece of burlap inside the paint sticks bushel basket then placed wooden apples inside.  You can change out the decor for any season.

Be sure to visit Purely Katie  for more projects and to learn more about Katie Enzenberger.