DIY Tutorial: Crate-Tag

In an effort to de-clutter and organize myself in the resolutionary month of January, I attacked my craft cabinet over the weekend.  Wouldn't you know that a little doo-dad piece of wood that I bought all the way back in the summer was hiding in there?  I intentionally bought the little wood-slab dink thingamajigger back in August to make Harry a name tag for his crate.  Other projects took over and it was forgotten, so I immediately utilized my discovery for its intended purpose!

I gathered my materials for my project haphazardly.  You'll need that little wooden slab, which was in the basic wood crafts aisle of AC Moore for about 50 cents.  Also, some wood stain, a brush or sponge to apply said stain, paint to write your fur-friend's name, and if you want to attach your sign like I did you'll need a tiny drill bit to make holes in your sign.  The drill bit cost me about $5 at the local hardware store, but you might get it cheaper at Lowes or Home Depot.  Not pictured are a rag for wiping stain, a drill (duh), and a working surface (newspaper, cardboard, something to protect your surfaces). 

First, you'll need to drill little holes in the corner of your sign.  Attach the drill bit to your drill and line up the holes you want to drill evenly on both sides.  Be careful not to choose a spot too close to the edge that might snap your wood.  Drill and apply pressure until you go all the way through.

Place your wood (bahaha) on a protected working surface and paint wood stain on with a brush.  Follow your stain instructions, but for mine I let it sit for a few minutes. 

Use a rag to wipe the excess stain from the wood.  I've been using one of the boo's unmatched socks for my recent staining projects.  Make sure to dispose of your soiled rags appropriately...apparently stain soaked rags are extremely flammable. 

After the stain is dry, proceed to paint your fur-baby's name.  I used puffy paint.  In hindsight, I probably could have gotten a really nice rustic effect making Harry's sign authentic and shabby chic by using a brush and stencil.  But I have been extremely impatient as of late, and I didn't want to spend time cutting a stencil out with an exacto knife.  Sorry Harry.  You got puffy paint.

Once dry, secure the sign outside of the crate using twist ties or wire.  I used some leftover wire from making these bird nest necklaces for X-mas.  Following this step, convince your baby to crawl into the crate and pose for pictures.  Maybe do this by baiting with a tennis ball, promising loads of treats, and repetitively saying "dinner?". 

So far, the sign has resisted chewing, so I think Harry likes it.  What Harry doesn't like is spending more than 8 hours of sleep over night in his crate.  Notice on the right in the above picture?  That was once a Nylabone that Harry has chiseled into what I call his prison shank.  I speculate that one night he's going to stab one of the guards (aka me or the boo) with his nyla-shank and break out of his crate.