Military crate into sofa table

Military runs through my roots on both sides of my family. My mother served in Wisconsin National Guard and the Reserves and I myself served in the United States Army. I have several uncles, cousins, great grandparents, and friends who have served as well. Last summer I was out antique shopping, which is a favorite past time for me, my mom, and my daughter to spend time together. We went into the little western antique store here in my little mountain town, and in the back room sat this dusty old Howitzer artillery crate. I saw it and had to have it. There was literally no leaving until I had that box! I didn't quite have a plan for this old guy yet, but I knew I'd find something special for it. 

I and my husband are brand new home owners and we haven't quite acquired a whole lot of furniture yet. I decided that this old crate, that was collecting more dust in the corner of my entryway, was going to become a beautiful display piece. I decided it would become a sofa table. 
Hubs and I had a few things to pick up at Home Depot, our usual DIY hub, so while I was there I picked up 4 screw on table legs and 4 plates for the legs to screw into. 

I started off by cleaning up the old crate. I vacuumed out the cobwebs from the inside and swept off the dust from the outside. And since I really like the character and the patina look to the wood, I left the box untouched. For the legs, I actually distressed them a bit by adding dents and scratches to the wood. I then added a coat of Minwax Weathered Oak stain to each leg. The color came out looking like a grey old wood, which matched my crate perfectly!

While the stain was drying, I went ahead and flipped the crate over and screwed the four plates onto the bottom corners. I left about 1/2 inch between the edges and the plates. 

Once the legs were almost completely dry, I wiped off the access stain. I then secured the legs to the bottom and that was it! 

I actually think it turned out amazingly! 

Just a little history on the box: it is a Howitzer artillery shell crate. This particular crate is from the Vietnam War. It held 2, 105 mm cartridges. The closure clasp is the original and it is very rusted, so I think it will stay closed. The date printed on the crate is September 1966.