Reclaimed Wood Art Display

About a year ago a came across a picture in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog of a canvas with a caterpillar on it.  While the canvas was adorable in itself what caught my eye was the manner in which it was displayed.  The canvas was on a "frame" made of reclaimed barn wood or pallet wood.  Sah-WEET!  I was enamored with this display instantly.  (cue the floating hearts here)

Since that time, I have been (1) trying to determine a place in my home where I could use this type of display for a print and (2) trying to find a print I would want to use.  These things take time people...you understand.  You can't just rush into these things all willy-nilly like. 

Well, a few weeks ago when I was playing around in some Linky Parties and you know once you do that you get sucked in for like hours looking at all the awesome-ness that OTHER people come up with and(shhhh...don't tell Mr. AKM) I came across some super fabulous Kitchen Wall Printables here at Over the Moon.  SWOON!  I IMMEDIATELY knew that these were the prints that my heart has been longing for.  And that these would be so sweetly displayed on some reclaimed wood frames. 

Squealls!!!

After deciding that I wanted the prints to be 11 x 14 (due to some art canvas's I already had on hand, i.e. no need to spend money) I sent the file off to Shutterfly and eagerly awaited the receipt of my prints.  While I impatiently waited, I started the process of making my displays.  We had some reclaimed wood from a deck that Mr. AKM ripped apart so...I cut 3 planks for each display to the size I desired.  Then sanded and stained each using this new shade of Minwax Stain - Weathered Oak.  Have you seen this color?  LOVE IT!  It is my new fav stain!  It has kinda a gray/brown tint to it....like weathered oak.  Go figure?!

This is what the planks looked like after sanding and staining.

Isn't that color AWESOME!  Sigh...

Then we Mr. AKM cut down some 1/4" plywood we had on hand for support for the back...

He went kinda crazy with the screws...he likes to use his my son's new drill.  I was gonna add some silly quip about how he likes to "screw" things but I'm not in the mood for hate mail...but we are all grown-ups here right? 

After he "screwed" the backing on, I added some picture hanger thingies (yes, that is the technical term) so that I could attach it to the wall.  Like, duh! 

Then my pictures arrived...OH HAPPY DAY!

I grabbed my little jar of Mod Podge and a sponge brush...

Slapped it on the front of some art canvas and stuck my picture right on to it.  Easy Peasy!

I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of this.  Bad blogger...I know.  I am hanging my head in shame as I type this out to you. 

So I stared at my finished canvas's for 'bout an hour trying to figure out how I was going to get them on my display board.  And then I had a major A-HA! Moment!  I can use those totally cool little Command Strip thingies (again, yes, that is the technical term).  That way if I ever want to change them out, oh say to put holiday specific pictures up..I TOTALLY CAN!  Wooohooooo!  Can I get a HELL YEA here ladies? 

Don't you love these things?  They so totally ROCK!

I put one set on the top and one on the bottom and...

I so totally heart them!  My heart is all a-flutter even now.  Swoon!

Total cost - $18.00!  Not bad for some serious eye candy if you ask me!

What do you think?  Is this something you would make for your house?  Where would you use it at?



You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh         

Friday:  Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), 

I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

DIY Pallet Wood Tray - Tutorial

How We Did It

DIY Pallet Wood Tray Tutorial

This project started with a stack of pallet wood.  We all know what this looks like so I did not photo this glorious stack of wood.  Though I should have, it was pretty impressive.  To prepare the wood we scrubbed it down with some soapy water and let it dry for several days.  Then we sanded the crap out of it to give it a smooth finish.  To achieve this finish we started with 80 grit and then finished with 220 grit.

Once the sanding stage was complete, we measured and cut the wood to the size desired.  This can be as large or as small as you like.

Don't worry if some of the wood is not straight (as you can see ours isn't).  It DOES NOT have to be perfect. In fact, you don't want it to be! These are suppose to look old, used and "vintage"! So it's okay if everything isn't totally square or lined up perfectly.  Just go with it...

Then with the help of our Porter Cable finishing stapler and some wood glue we have a completed tray.

So totally Simple!  And again, it is NOT perfect.  We didn't worry about filling nail holes because all of those nooks and cranny's are what makes these trays have lots of "personality"  :)  Just like us! 

Then it was time to add some handles to this beauty.  We had a bag of 3/8 " rope that we picked up from Home Depot for like 8 bucks so I decided...why not?  Lets use that!

I measured out where I wanted the handles to be and then took a 3/8" drill bit and drilled two holes in the fronts of each tray for handles.

I then cut the rope to the length I wanted...wrapped the ends with some duct tape to make it easier to slide through the holes...and tied off with knots.

To make sure the knots stayed "put", I applied a little Loctite liquid glue to the knots.  It is IMPERATIVE that you use the liquid and NOT the gel for this project.  The liquid will soak into the rope where the gel will not.  Check it out! 

Love IT!  And it was so totally SIMPLE!  In fact, I loved the look of it so much that I decided not to stain it after all.  Instead, I sealed it with 3 coats of Minwax Polyurethane in the Satin finish.  And Wah-LAH!

 

It's SUCH a great option for coffee tables, and costs about the same as your traditional run of the mill basket that you can pick up at your local home decor store. Also, think of the possibilities... 

You could add a cool stencil and then sand it a bit to jazz up the top, some decorative handles, or paint the tray a fun color!

What do ya think? Could you find a way to use this simple pallet wood tutorial to build a tray of your own, for a space in your home!?

DIY Homemade Pallet Wood Tray

Vintage Wood Tray

keep track of all your remotes, magazines and whatnots...

Do you have one of those coffee tables that seems to accumulate "stuff" no matter how hard you try (beg, plead, nag...complain) to get everyone to STOP putting everything that touches their hands on top of it?  Do you ever wonder what to do with all the stuff that seems to gravitate to your coffee table?  The magazines, the remotes, the drink coasters, kleenex boxes, toys, books....This has been a battle in my household, well, since I got married to be honest.  Then it got worse once I had kids.  I mean seriously guys, how hard is it to put the TV remote into the drawer NEXT to the couch?  I mean you just have to lean to the right instead of to the front.  Its not THAT big of a stretch.  You might get a little oblique action going on.  I'm just sayin'.  My guys, they just don't get it.  Everything must go forward.  Reading a book...leave it on the coffee table.  Playing with your Ipod Touch...leave it on the coffee table...blowing your nose, throw the dirty kleenex on the coffee table.  UGH!  (I'm so not kidding about the dirty kleenex either).  YUCK!  I still love them though...and I'd blame it on their mom, but thats ME!  Oh where did I go wrong?  It's not MY fault...they belong to their dad.  It's his gene pool that they get it from.

I made the decision to STOP the madness.  As in end it completely...cease it's existence.  I removed the coffee table!  Problem solved!  Ok, I didn't really get THAT dramatic, but I wanted too :)  Then my husband stomped his feet and said (in his demanding voice, snicker snicker, snort) that he would not stand for that!  Yea, whatever!  But I did have his attention so he was willing gritting his teeth to help solve the problem.

In came the idea...I saw a tray in a magazine that I thought was really cool but they wanted something like $75 bucks for it!  GASP!  For a tray...that is made of wood?  I'm sorry folks, that is RI.DIC.U.LOUS!

We can make it for FREE!  Oh yea bay-BEE!  That's what I am talking about!  F to the R to the E.E!  All yo need is some leftover pieces of wood...or an old pallet.  But just cuz it was free, don't go thinking it was all easy or nuthin like that.  Mr. AKM did have to pull apart some pallets to make this happen.  And from what I hear (due to his grumbling) that THAT is no easy task.  OH WELL!  Nobody said FREE came easy.  In the end, this is what we have...

The PERFECT place for everything...except dirty, snotty tissues! 

Don't you just love the variation of color?  And the rope handles?  Be still my heart.  I'm in deep...deep LOVE with this! 

You could even add a cool stencil and then sand it a bit to jazz up the top or use some decorative pulls for handles, or paint the tray a fun color and add some pretty pulls for a little girls room!  The options are endless!

What do ya think? Could you find a way to use this simple pallet tray for a space in your home!?  I'd love to see/hear your ideas!

Tomorrow I will be posting the tutorial on how to make these if your interested in the how to's of it all.

Update:  Find Pallet Wood Tray Tutorial here.

Linking up to the following parties...go check them out

The Girl Creative

Skip to My Lou

Craft O Maniac

Lisa's Craft Blog

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Savvy Southern Style

Blue Cricket Design

Michele Raven Designs

Finding Fabulous

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Shabby Nest

Whipperberry