Supplies:

1. Crate. I purchased mine from Dollar Tree.
2. acrylic paint or stain
3. sand paper if your crate needs to be sandded down first.
4. 2 popsicle sticks
5. scissors or other way to cut popsicle sticks.
6. 1 twisty ties
7. Elmer’s glue or wood glue
8. 4 Wagon wheels. I have a free file in my library for the wagon wheels I made for this project. I made mine out of wood, but you could use other materials as well. I give more ideas in my discription.

I started off by sanding down my wooden crate.  I just wanted to smooth out some of the rough edges.  Next, I cut my popsicle sticks down to size.  You will need just a small piece of popsicle stick.  This will be glued to the very bottom of your crate, but make sure a small portion of this popsicle stick is sticking out.  I have the cut end sticking out from under my crate.  This popsicle stick will be used to secure the handle of the wagon.  For the handle of the wagon you will need to cut off the rounded edges of the popsicle stick.  If you use something different from what I am using for my crate, then you may need to use a different size popsicle stick or cut your popsicle stick down smaller.  After you cut your popsicle sticks down to size, then I recommend sanding the edges you cut to make them smooth.   

I then painted my crate and popsicle sticks.  I used a brush with rougher bristles, I believe it is called a chip board brush, when painting my pieces.  I also made sure to only apply a small amount of paint at a time.  This allowed me to get a more wood like look to my wagon.  If you get too much paint in one section, you can try to wipe some off with a paper towel or spread it out more with the rough paint brush.  It is also important to paint with the grain for best results. Now allow everything to dry.   

Once the paint was dry I used Elmer’s glue to attach my popsicle sticks.  For the handle I placed my long popsicle stick on top of the smaller popsicle stick that sticks out from the bottom of the crate a little.  I held the long popsicle stick at my desired angle while I waited for the glue to dry.  You could place an item for it to rest on while it dried.  Wood glue, Elmer’s glue, and hot glue should all dry fairly quickly and hold these pieces well.  For the handle at the top, I used a black twisty tie.  I cut it down to size and shaped it into a handle I was happy with.  Then I glued it onto my long popsicle stick.  I recommend gluing this handle on first and letting lay flat as it dries, then attach the entire piece to the wagon.   

The final step is to attach some wheels. I designed a wagon wheel and put this design in my free library.  I cut my wheel out of wood.  You could also make your wheels out of other small round items you have around your house.  Some other suggestions would be wine corks or a thicker piece of wood from a branch or from the bag of wood pieces places like Dollar Tree sells.  You could also attach my wagon wheel cutout on top of one of these options either as a wood cutout or as a vinyl or cardstock cut out.  I use wood glue to attach all four of my wheels, but depending on what material you use to attach your wheels you may need a different type of glue. I also used the lines on the wheels and lined them up with the wagon to help me place my wheels in about the same location. I decided to leave my wheels the wood color, but you could also paint yours. I also recomend placing your wheels first before gluing them down to insure the location is to your liking. In the picture below you can see the wheel on the left is slightly lower than the one on the right. I liked the lower look better.

Now fill your wagon with hay, reindeer moss, or other material of your choice.  Then I added some small pumpkins I purchased from Dollar Tree.  You could also print off a small sign to attach to the side of your wagon if you wished.  If you do this, then I recommend applying your sign to a piece of cardboard cut down to the size of your print out.  This will give it more support and hold up better.  If you wish to change out this sign for the different holidays, and thus change up the items inside your wagon, then you could glue a small magnet to the back of your sign.  Then use a second magnet inside the wagon, covered by the grass or filler you put inside your wagon, to hold the sign in place.  It will then be easy to switch out the signs for the different holidays.   

I tried this permanent writable white sticker I found at Dollar Tree. I got what I paid for. It had several wrinkles in it. For this small sign it did work okay though. I first tried making my design with 1.0 thick gel pens, and 1.0 thick black pen, because this was the only size I had in an orange marker. Because the sign was so small the design was very blurry. I then tried it again, but with just a 0.4 thickness back Cricut pen. This was a little easier to read, but my sign was still to small to really read. I used the printable sticker paper (white) setting to cut this material. This setting cut the entire sticker out completely. I then used the same setting, but with less pressure, with the same results. With both signs the ink stayed very wet for a long while after they were finished. The stickiness of this material seemed to be good. Overall I think the sign, even though it is blurry, gives a nice extra touch to this wagon. If you are just using this sticker material for small projects that will not matter a lot, then this could be a nice cheap alternative to use. I just recommend you do not touch your stickers for a few hours after you make them, to insure you do not smudge the ink. I will use this sticker material up, but will probably not buy it again, and spend a little extra money for something a little better quality. If you are interested in the SVG file of the sign I made, then head to my library to download it for free. You can find my free library here. If you need the password to get into the library, then click here.