How to Make a Wine Box Centerpiece

I was recently invited to participate in a “wine sisterhood”, where strangers sign up and exchange wine boxes. This was a great way to use up some scrap lumber, but you can easily create these with purchased components. For just one piece, it’s $15 a box, but if you are smart with cuts you can make SEVEN boxes for less than $4 each. Learn how to create an adorable wine box centerpiece today!

Rating (decode with the handy-dandy guide here):

Time
Money
Tools
Experience
Strength
Risk
Suckage

Tools

Tape Measure
Pencil
Saw (I used a miter saw which is easiest, but a circular or even hand saw would work with some patience)
Drill
Nail Gun or Wood Glue and Clamps

Materials

There is an excel version of the material and cut list here. I used this tool to calculate minimal waste cuts. These lists exclude finishes, but can be stained, painted, or just polyed and look great!

One Box:

(1) 1x10x6 pine board
(1) 1x4x6 pine board
(8) 1 5/8″ wood screws
Wood Glue

Seven Boxes

(1) 1x10x6 pine board
(5) 1x4x6 pine boards
(56) 1 5/8″ wood screws
Wood Glue

Step 1: Cut the Bases

The first couple boxes I made the tops first and then tried to mount them to the bases. I became acutely aware of how out of square everything was so none of my corners matched up. You’re welcome to do this still, it is probably the fastest method, but the more precise method is to measure, cut, and assemble each piece as you go for any discrepancies in the wood.

Step 2: Assemble the Sides

If your piece is bowed, you’ll want to assemble the bowed side first. You can use the 1×4, wood glue, and a screw to bring it flush and level which makes assembling the other sides much easier. I used a brad nailer to quickly “tack” the side pieces straight before drilling and installing the screws, but if you don’t have a brad nailer you can also just use clamps.

Step 3: Assemble the Shorter Sides

Measure between the two end pieces on each side of the box to get a precise measurement for the short cross pieces. I used a brad nailer to hold in the pieces from the side, and then flipped the box over, drilled, and sunk one screw per piece.

Step 4: Install the Center Cross (optional)

This step is optional. I ran out of lumber to make all of the crosses, so I built several boxes without the center cross and though they came out pretty cute! If you don’t want to do the center cross, your box centerpiece is done and you can proceed to finishing in step 5.

Use a pencil and mark 3.5″ in from each corner. This gives you a guide for placement for the center cross (each cubby is approximately 3.5″ square). Measure and cut (1) ~7.75″ section, and (2) ~3.5″ section per box. With much trial and error, I found the easiest way to keep these sections square was to glue and brad nail one “T” with the 3.5″ and 7.75″ pieces, then place the “T” in the box, measure and cut the last 3.5″ section and brad nail the whole thing in place. One secure, I flipped the box over and use (2) screws on the 7.75″ section and 1 screw per 3.5″ section. This might seem like overkill, but I found myself grabbing the center of the cross most often to move the box around.

Step 5: Sand and Apply Your Finishes

I HATE sanding, so I did this the laziest way possible. I didn’t sand any of the insides of the cubby holes because I was painting them and the paint can be fairly forgiving. It won’t cover knots, really rough sections, or missing pieces, so I aimed all of those towards the outside so I only needed to sand the outside of the box. If you want to sand the inside of the box, I recommend sanding before assembling the box as it is a hassle to get into the 3.5″ cubbies.

The dark wood is stained with Miniwax “Espresso” stain after a hefty coat of wood preconditioner (which makes pine less blotchy to stain). All of the paint is regular interior latex paint primed with Zinsser 1-2-3 primer and finished with furniture wax. The most popular wine box centerpiece has espresso stained outside and white cubby holes.

Check out some of the in-process wine box centerpieces! For some reason I didn’t take any final pictures so ignore the smudges and so-so paint jobs, they look better now, I promise.