How To Make "Pallet Art"

Hey Y'all!!!

If you just now found my blog, my name is Jenny!

I've been married for almost 11 years now, and God has blessed us with 4 beautiful, loving children!  As you can imagine, our lives are pretty busy! 
We love the outdoors, we love taking road trips, going on mini in-expensive vacations.  One of our favorite things to do is rock-climbing!

There's just something about it...Once you reach the top, and you're looking out at all the beauty that God has created, it's just a reminder that nothing else matters.  The every day stresses...they just go away!

Ahhh...

This is my Family!

So when we're not going on our little adventures, and it's just every day life...

I enjoy decorating, crafting, working on projects with my Dad and/or Husband, re-modeling, DIY-ing (is that a word?), rearranging furniture over-and-over again, taking pictures, and more recently...blogging!

Then I heard about Pinterest, and that took me to the next level!

Whoever invented this...genius!!!

It was there, where I saw that you can up cycle pallets!!!

I have tried almost everything pertaining to pallets!  The pallet wall, pallet shelving, pallet coffee table, framed pallets, chalkboard pallets, and my Pallet Art!  It seems that out of everything I have made, "Pallet Art" seems to have been the biggest hit!

So I'm going to show you just how easy it is to make one yourself!

Start off with a pallet!

I find a lot of my pallets next to dumpsters, but you should still try and ask before taking them.  Shipping Pallets are expensive for companies!

I use a Circular Saw to cut the wood into pieces.  I don't even bother trying to take the nails out!  They are next to impossible to remove!

I get a little bit nervous using a Circular Saw, so I usually ask my husband to cut them for me. =)

Layout your wood pieces how you want them.

The bottom side needs to be level, but your top side doesn't have to be perfect.

Drill your holes first with a drill bit...

(yes, on this pallet...I used leftover moulding! ha ha)

I use Wood Glue AND screws! 

Then just screw the boards down! 

It's that EASY!

For this type of distressing, I used 2 paint colors.

Black & Aqua!

The first coat doesn't need to be perfect, mainly focus on the edges.

In this case, I used a black spray paint.

Once the black dried, I went over it with some aqua paint!

Just like the black, it doesn't need to be perfect.  You're going to be sanding it down anyways to get the distressed look!

I used to sand by hand, but the electric sander is a whole lot quicker!

See how the black shows through?...

If you have a Cricut machine, it will make your life sooo much easier when it comes to doing the lettering.

You just type in what letters or designs you want, and it cuts them all out for you!  They sell different Cricut machines, so just do a google search if you're interested in one! =)

This is me peeling off the letters...

...and it even comes with a cute little spatula to help remove the letters from the sticky mat!

I lay out all of my letters on the board first, just so that I can rearrange them if need be.

Next I apply the mod podge!  You can use the mod podge as a glue AND sealant!  Glue the letters down first using the mod podge.  Then brush over the top of the letters, and entire pallet with some more mod podge!

Once the mod podge is dry, I also spray it down with some polycrylic!

And here they are!!!

Just so you get an idea of how big these are...

Here I am standing next to one!

I would LOVE for y'all to stay awhile, follow me on Facebook, or Google!

I enjoy re-modeling/DIY projects JUST as much as I enjoy crafting!  So if crafting is not your thing, you may enjoy the remodeling & DIY projects that I post.

Be sure to check out our Spiral Stairs we put in, and the demolition of our old stairs!!  Or how we transformed our open Living Room/Dining Room space by closing the Dining Room off, and making it a separate room.

If you enjoy the more simpler DIY projects, I have a TON of those too!

I LOVE "simple & quick"!  ha ha

Like, creating a little Hallway Organization by adding a 1 x 6 board and some hooks!

Thank You so much for stopping by!!!

I hope y'all have a blessed day!

~ Jenny xoxo

UPCYCLED Iron Park Bench (back)

I bought 2 disassembled cast iron park benches from a friend of mine.  I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them.  I didn't think I was going to reassemble them, and just refurbish.  I kind of bought them for the sole purpose of upcycling them.

I had no plans on working on them any time soon, but while I was carrying them inside the house to the backyard, I passed by my fireplace and thought,

"Hmmm...I wander?"

So I lifted the back piece to the bench onto my mantel, took a step back, and thought, "Yes!  That's it!"

So I stopped everything I was doing, went and grabbed my supplies, and back to the front yard I went!

So these were the pieces I bought...

I LOVE them as individual pieces!  I plan on reusing every part of it, but in different ways other than a park bench.

Before:

And now...

Thanks for looking!

Hope y'all have a blessed week!

~ Jenny



UPCYCLED Soda Crate:

Yesterday I stopped at a Garage Sale on my way home...

Check out all of my Vintage finds!!!

You may have seen this picture I posted on my Facebook page!

I just LOVE everything, but I already have a trunk,...don't really need another one. So I'm actually going to re-sell that one to make a profit.
This is usually how I do things.  I'll buy things that I know I can make some money off of, to afford the things that I want to keep.
"Okay, that was WAY too many things!"
ha ha

For example, this is what I spent:

Vintage Trunk: $25.00
Pepsi Crate: $5.00
Stool: $1.00
Frames: $1.00 each
...and I bought a set of dishes for $3.00

So I spent about $40.00

The only Keepers are going to be the Crate and the dishes!

I just sold the Trunk for $60.00, giving me a profit of $35.00
So that already nearly paid for the money I spent!!!

The frames are going to be up-cycled into something else, probably a Chalkboard Frame, which I will probably then sell for $20 each.
The stool will probably re-sell for $15.00

So in the end, I will be making quite a bit of profit, AND the best part of it, I got what I REALLY wanted for FREE!!!

Now...for the FUN stuff!!!

Check out my Pepsi Crate!!!

"Cute, Cute, Cuuttteee, right?!"

Thanks for looking! =)

Stick around, you can follow me on my Facebook page!

~ Jenny

Refurbished Ethan Allan Chair:

I wasn't really looking for any furniture, but I came across this Ethan Allan bench.  It was posted as a "bench", but it kind of looks more like a couch.  I'm not really sure what to call it??  Ethan Allan Chair, maybe?

This was how it looked when I first got it...

I tore all of this off!!!...gross!  It was all moldy, and dirty!

I just LOVE everything about it though, the spindles, the curves...

After I took all of that moldy fabric off, I nailed down some wooden slats. 

To be exact, I just used left-over fencing that I had on hand...

I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to leave it this distressed black color, but I knew black would be the safest color to paint it just until I figure out what I'm going to do with the upholstery.

I used Rust-oleum Universal Black Satin Paint & Primer In One...

And just so you get an idea of where this is located...

Right now I have it as my Entryway bench.

What do you think?

I still need to add cushions, so depending on the fabric color, I may keep or change the black.  What do you think of the location?

Here's another view...

(ignore un-finished french doors...haha)

Can't wait to finish this piece!

~ Jenny