Over the weekend we began the conversion of the wine box I found in the trash. I have to thank my mother-in-law for her help and ideas, she is really good at these projects. Her house is completely customized to her wishes.
Anyway, first step with the DIY wine box bike basket, for any of you interested, is reinforcing the structural integrity because the staples in the box are not meant to last. As she drilled the holes for the screws she said that one staple had already given way. We used some quarter-round wood that she had in the barn, cut down to box-height, and screwed the panels of the box into this stronger wood.We haven't decided yet about how to preserve the wood. My husband votes for natural aging, my mother-in-law and other friends vote for oil finish, and I just don't know what I can do. The appeal of a simple polyurethane is that I do it once, it's preserved and done, and I don't have to deal with smelly finishes over and over in my tiny apartment thoughout the heat of summer. The husband's advice is sound in that the box isn't going to degrade immediately and so I can wait and decide over time.
Sadly this box isn't written all in French, or from a winery in my hometown in California, or (like JPTwins' box) from the winery of my father. However the box was free, and it does have a cyclist on it. So I like it.
Stay tuned! The next post will show how we plan to attach it so that I can remove it easily while still filled to overflowing with good things to eat.
