Monday, January 9, 2012

Pallet Art, or, I am an Artiste

There are so many awesome pallet projects floating around the internet. Bookshelves, wine racks, art pieces... they're everywhere. I happened to mention this to my neighbor who is a landscaper, and he brought me home my very own pallet! Thanks, Bob!

It sat on our driveway for a few weeks while we (I. Zac was negative interested, because since it was wood, he knew it was going to be major work for him!) tried to figure out what project we wanted to make. We narrowed it down to two finalists:

                                     

This gorgeous coffee table

                                 Pinned Image

This cool art piece.

Ultimately, the art piece won out because caster wheels cost a zillion dollars, Zac was pretty sure the coffee table would be too big for our living room, and we had a large space in the family room where we needed an art piece anyway. Score.

The cost for this project is:

Pallet - $0
Paint - $0 (already had it)
Round sponge brushes ($2.99. Bought the cheap set. Worked like a champ. Score).

Yeah, the whole freaking thing cost $2.99. Because we are super awesome like that. And we have well connected neighbors.

This was the best kind of joint project because we each had to do our parts while the other person wasn't home for various reasons. That meant Zac got to cut the pallet and build the "canvas" without me saying things like, "Are you sure it should be that long?" "What if you turn it the other way?" "Can I use the saw?"

It also meant that I got to paint without hearing things like, "That red is too dark." "Add another line over there." "Are you sure you want to include that many flowers?"

Ahh sweet marital bliss.

Anyway, the pictures are a bit crazy because I found out mid-project that Zac had taken our good camera to a football game. So instead of great pictures of me painting, you can see pictures like this:

Go CATS!

But anyway... the first step in this process was for Zac to cut the pallet and turn it into a canvas.


He took the boards off of the pallet... and how much do you love that we do projects like this in our living room, without even rolling up the rug? We are hard core.

This is how he put them together...

And this is what it looks like finished!

He did a fantastic job - all of the boards line up perfectly. We didn't sand it at all - we wanted that rough look and feel to it. A few of the boards were more rough than others, and the brown paint pen I used for the branches probably won't ever be used again, but it was worth it.

Time to bring out my trusty paint supplies. Thank you, Alpha Gamma Delta, for making me do enough crafting to accumulate this supply. I really should use this stuff more often!


I followed this tutorial here, which was really helpful. The project itself was so simple. It took me a while (3 hours, probably?) but that was because my cheap brush pack only had one circle brush of each size so I had to clean them off and could only do one color at a time.

The tutorial was inspired by this World Market art piece, and I liked how there were more colors and flowers than the tutorial, so I modeled mine off of the original art.

                                               Pinned Image

The first step was to draw branches onto the pallet. At first, I followed her picture almost exactly because I was afraid to mess up. You can't really mess this one up. As I went on, I started to just draw some crazy lines.



Then, I started with the bursts. I did one color at a time, and honestly chose the colors as I went along. I put in the colors until I had enough big bursts, then went through and added the smaller bursts one at a time.



The finished product:




And here it is hanging in our living room. The colors tie in really well with our pillows. It is so perfect in the room - I'm not sure how we ever lived without it!



And a picture so you can see it with the throw pillows. 


The best part is when people come over, they almost always notice it and want to know where we got it. Oh, you know, I just made it. No big deal!

Click HERE to see the blog parties where I'm linking!

39 comments:

  1. HI! I love what you did to your pallet! I just got a few and have started making things with them too-haven't seen anything like this yet-I love the World Market and I think yours looks better!

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  2. This is a great project and I love how colorful your painting turned out. This is going on to my Pinterest board and I am sure it will be repinned often. Thanks for sharing so many of your projects.

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  3. Thanks, everyone! It's one of those projects that I love more and more everyday! It's just so FUN!

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  4. Yours turned out great! Glad you found mine for inspiration :)

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  5. Seriously! I love this, how easy!! And it looks so professional like it could have been really expensive. Great job, you've inspired me!

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  6. Oh my goodness this is awesome!
    It turned out beautifully and I love all the colors.
    Can I also say that I love all the fun pillows you have too...well I did just say it so I guess I can ;)

    Biz

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  7. This is incredible! Your colors are awesome and much better than the World Market original! Thanks for a great idea!!

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  8. I'm experiencing a bit of envy over such a great piece of art you now have. (I know... "go find your own pallet!") Just love those colors you chose! I also enjoyed the way you wrote this all up, very entertaining! :-)

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  9. Wow, tara! This looks so amazing! I'm really dying over it. Love the texture of the pallet and it fits so well in your room. I think a piece of pallet art is going to be in my future.

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  10. Looks great. I love those pillows along your bench seat--the bright colors are so cheery.

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  11. Oh I love it! Yours is my favorite version :)

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  12. I love it! The colours you used are fantastic. I made a similar one using paper that's currently waiting to be picked up from the framers.

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  13. This is lovely and reclaimed wood is sooo trendy right now!

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  14. Wow! Amazing job. Love the color choices too!
    New follower here from 733
    http://myhappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com

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  15. Really like this project! Great job.

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  16. That is gorgeous and eye catching. It goes so well with those pretty pillows. I am a new follower visiting from A Glimpse Inside. Vicky from Mess For Less

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  17. What a fantastic project! I have been trying to rope my husband into DIY projects lately (with little success) so kudos to you for getting yours to help!

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  18. I love what you did with this pallet. It looks great with the natural texture of the wood mixed with the bright colors!

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  19. So beautiful--you made a good choice :)

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  20. I've admired that painting at World Market for some time now. Thanks for showing how to make my own!

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  21. Great work! I also have pics of world market artwork on my computer for inspiration. I love that this piece is so simple yet fantastic!

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  22. What as awesome idea! Thanks for sharing, I have been dying to add some art to my living room but havent found the perfect piece, this may be it!

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  23. Oh my goodness, that is beautiful! I think I can do that too! I am going to try, but use a canvas. Thanks so much for the inspirtaion!

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  24. Hi Tara, omgosh, what a fabulous job you did on your wall hanging. It fits so perfectly with your living space. Fantastic work Tara. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
    http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.com/

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  25. Ok - I was SO inspired, I did my own version on canvas. I used Navy Blue, med blue, black and silver. My room is all those colors and I really love it! I did not do as many circles since i really needed another color but don't have another color in there. Maybe I will add a pop of color and then add to it, but for now, I LOVE it. I have it sitting on an easel on my end table. Thanks for the easy step by step.

    I am posting on my blog, stop by and give me your comments! http://www.wendyverdon.blogspot.com/

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  26. Wow, Tara, that is SO totally FABulous!! I loooove the way it turned out! You did a great job...and I can't believe it cost you a whopping three bucks. Nice. Your throw pillows are super fun too, and I'm coveting that window/window seat. Great project; thanks a million for sharing at Shine on Fridays. I sincerely hope you'll be back with more goodies this Friday!

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  27. Gorgeous and SO cool. It looks you paid tons of money for that. I am definitely saving this in my files for future projects.

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  28. Found your blog through being featured on Kojo Designs, I kind of got lost here for about an hour. I will be back! Looking forward to more of your projects and I think that this pallet piece is exactly what I need for over my bed.

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  29. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

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  30. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

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  31. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

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  32. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thank you Tara. You solved my dilemma in choosing a canvas to letter a very cool saying on for my #2 daughter Tiffany. It's perfect and I know she'll love it. I'll post a photo of it when I'm finished.

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