DIY Easy pallet wood planter

It's the time of year when I'm looking for new planters for the garden but being the tight fisted so and so that I am I simply refuse to buy them so out came the pallet wood and a bit of ingenuity. I need several planters for Roses that will eventually be going out into the garden ground but for this year they need a home while the garden is finished. The planters had to be exceptionally easy to make (because I get bored easily), use as little wood as possible but still look like more than just a square box.
The first one I made looked ok but I'd cut corners such as not pre drilling so the finished effect wasn't as good as it could have been - I decided that one would be the prototype and set about making another one but took my time to do it properly. The finished planter still only took one day to make so I'll definitely be making several more.

This is the finished look - no painting just a light sand and a coat of outdoor varnish for protection.

There are probably many tutorials online much better than anything I can give but I'll show step by step how I made this and maybe it will encourage someone to give it a go.

Assemble all your wood pieces once you have decided the size you want. This may sound obvious but on the prototype I made each panel up before cutting and making the next one and I ran out of wood the right size half way through. I managed to source some eventually but I would have saved myself so much aggravation just doing it properly from the start.
I decided to make my planter 20" high by whatever width the pallet wood ended up being. As it turned out I used wood that was a little over 3.5".
I cut 16 pieces @ 20" and 4 pieces the width of the boards joined together (I actually need 8 width pieces but we'll come to that later).

First I lay 4 of the pieces down and used the cool set square I attached to my workbench as something to straighten them against, this saved me so much time and effort in trying to hold all the pieces level and together.

Loving my set square as it helps keep it all together.

Next I attached a scrap piece of wood across the middle to hold it all together while I mark out for the arch in the bottom - I forgot to take a photo though.

For the arches at the top and bottom I made a mark 2" in from either end at the bottom and used a plate to mark out a circle from those marks. I repeated this at the top and bottom of all 4 sides.

Marks for arches.

Next I used the Jigsaw to cut out those marks.
TIP: Once you have cut those arches out do not remove the scrap wood from the middle until you have secured one of the fixing battens. I made this mistake and it took me ages to get that arch to look right again because the wood dropped.

See the scrap wood - don't remove it yet.

Next secure the fixing batten top and bottom - I fixed them 3" up from the bottom and 3" down from the top. Once they are secure it's safe to move the scrap wood from the middle. Then turn the pieces over and screw into the fixing battens to make it super secure - don't forget to pre drill.

Top & bottom arches cut

You need to make 2 exactly like that and then make 2 more but the fixing battens will need to be a different width allowing for the sides you just made to sit snug against the new sides.
I held the two finished sides up to the one I was now making and marked out where the battens sat so I could use that width for the fixing battens for the next 2 sides - does that make sense?
In this photo you can see what I mean. The 2 sides are held against the one I'm making - the pencil shows you the width I'm measuring.

Pencil showing width to measure.

With that done you fix the shorter battens to the next 2 sides and you should have 2 of each of these

Finished pieces ready for joining

Next I simply built the box and screwed the sides in together - pre drilling the holes first and using a screw head sinker like this, the effect is so much more pleasing and prevents splitting of wood.

Drill bit and screw head sinker.

Looking inside this is what the planter looks like screwed together. It's perfectly solid by this point.

Add caption

Next I cut 3 pieces of scrap wood to fix to the bottom making sure the slats had enough gap to allow for water drainage.

Slats fixed to the bottom inside.

Then I needed to lay a liner in it, usually I use some of hubbys thick DPM but I was feeling especially lazy and know the DPM can be a hassle to fix so I literally used a super thick bin liner which fit perfectly and fixed it to the top batten supports with my nail gun.

To hide the plastic and make it look a bit nicer I cut some odds and ends of really thin finishing wood I found and attached it to the top of the plastic using the nail gun again into the batten.

Finishing wood over plastic on left.

Finally, a quick sand down with 60 grit and a quick sand with 240 grit -I usually go all the way from 60, 80, 120 etc but I wanted to keep the rustic look.
One coat of external varnish and it's good to go.

Finished look

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New workshop part 1

My workshop is really starting to take shape now and I'm so excited that I will soon be able to start all my home and garden projects in a space that is of a decent size to move around in - no more shuffling around in a 7x12 shed with small worktops that meant I couldn't build anything bigger than a bird house and had to wait until summer so I could build outside - a complete waste of winter months when I would actually have the time to build and create things.

The new workshop is actually a quarter of my husbands existing workshop (it took me months to convince him to section me the end off) and measures just over 20ftx20ft, a huge improvement not only in actual space but worktops also. Not only has MrCH made me a worktop covering 2 lengths of the walls but I also have a concrete slab area for tall work (the rest of the floor is gravel unfortunately but I'm not complaining - yet) and he even made me a work station that I could access from all sides by boarding out the top of his pool table.
It's not finished yet, I'm moved in and all my tools etc are in there but it's a mess as I try to organise stuff and work out where stuff is going. I'm not one to buy in loads of new wood in order to make lovely fancy racking and matching tool racks so everything I make is made from either old wood or pallet wood, it doesn't look posh or fancy but it does the job.

This is what I started with, 20x20 of hubbys shed. It needed insulating, boarding out and something fixing to the ceiling because the steel sheets tend to condensate in the winter and who needs to be dripped on all day!

More views of where we started. The pool table barely got used but is amazingly heavy so hubby agreed to let me make use of it as a walk around work table. We moved it slightly to the far end so that I could also make use of the concrete slab it sits on.

Insulation is in and we've begun boarding the walls out. The windows look squiffy in these pictures but they're really not, a spirit level was used throughout and the sloping roof give it an optical illusion. In fact I'm quite proud of those windows because I put them in and fixed them myself!
The door is an old one we've had sitting here for years and is now in the opening you see to the right.

These are the views I'm going to have to put up with while I'm working away in there, it's hard but someone has to do it.

Next time I'll post its current progress and the weird and wonderful projects I've made for door handles and shelving etc.

Bon Appetit!

I've finally managed to finish one of my smaller projects yay!
I'm not sure where the inspiration for this piece came from because originally I wanted to use 'Bon Appetit!' in vinyl letters above a shelf with my cookbooks in the kitchen.
But me being me changed things as I went along and I decided to mount the words on a board. I was a bit concerned that vinyl letters may not adhere very well on silk Kitchen wall paint and had the same concerns about a Sharpie going directly on to the wall. Plus, I figured something moveable would be better because the kitchen is still a work in progress and knowing me I'd put it exactly where I don't want it. I'm clever like that!

So here's the finished product:

Least the towel is new!

Excuse the staging. A ruddy Yellow TeaTowel and a Tin of Biscuits! Most people would probably have staged it with fresh rolls and herbs but not me, I go for a Yellow towel and a tin of Biscuits - hmmmm wonder what Freud would say about that!

Anyway to make this little piece I cut myself a few pieces (4 to be exact) of scrap timber and attached them to a smaller piece of hardboard - glued and nailed on of course!

The back.

The front.

Then it had a good sand to get rid of rough edges and to reduce any varnish.
Then comes the best part - painting!
I used one coat of primer / undercoat mix but only because I have no other white paint left.
Once dried it was followed by a nice Red by Laura Ashley - I bought a tester pot for £3 (rip off I know). The Red was to match the Red accessories in my kitchen as much as possible.
Next I sanded it down to let the White colour through and to age the corners and edges etc - I looooove sanding!
Next came the real exciting part - the lettering. I used my laptop again as I did in 'THIS' post to trace the lettering because my printer is playing up and I keep having to heat the cartridge up before getting ink from it - so annoying!
I traced the letters on as usual by scribbling over the letters onto the board and then used a white 'Pilot' pen to trace over the lettering.
I have to say at this point that the Pilot pen was amazing, so much easier than the Sharpie and didn't fail on me once (unlike the Sharpie). The only downside is that the fluid is slightly thin so you may need to go over it a couple of times if you'rre wanting a solid letter.
I, on the other hand would be sanding it anyway so wasn't too bothered:

Cool Pilot pen

Sanded edges

Then one coat of varnish using a brush as thick as each board to help reduce brush strokes and voila!

The finished look.

It's not even in its final resting place yet because I haven't quite decided where it's going to go.
I know it looks like a Coca Cola advert and the Bon looks like Ben but I like it anyway!
Thanks for taking a look, hope you enjoy.



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Love

I'm getting a tad carried away making these blocks now and yet I still have more on the go!
These were actually some of the first I ever made but I made a mess of the paint colour choice and then wasn't so keen on the paper choice I made either. However, they've been just staring at me for weeks now pleading to be finished so I figured I'd fit them in in between other projects (why do I seem to have so many on the go!)

Anyhoo these are the blocks:

The finished item.

The process for making them is really, really simple.
I cut 4 blocks from some rough 2"x2" wood and gave them a really good sand down. The corners and edges were sanded with a mega mother of all sand papers (I do have mechanical sander but I'm too lazy to get it set up    I enjoy hand sanding).
Once the corners and edges were rounded I used 2 other grades of sandpaper to smooth the blocks even more:

Before & After.

Next, and this is where it all goes Pete Tong, I painted all the blocks with Laura Ashleys 'Duck egg'. I figured a blast of colour would be just what was needed after so many recent projects have been Cream but once they'd dried I decided it wasn't really what I wanted, so I painted them cream - of course!
Once dried I sanded the whole thing paying more attention to the edges and corners.
Next I took some Latin font vellum, cut pieces to fit the front of each one and glued them on using watered down PVA glue.
This is a process I've never done before and I didn't realise that the vellum would stretch and crinkle so much which is another reason I abandoned the project after this point.

The edges of the paper were also sanded once dried.

Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to finish the blocks mainly because I'd just bought a Gold permanent marker for xmas projects and wanted to try it on something else first.
The marker is by 'Pilot' and I have to say it was a dream to use, as was the White Pilot pen I used on another project, plus I got them dirt cheap along with a Silver one off EBay!
So I attempted to transfer letters onto the blocks the usual way of tracing and scribbling buut even with a dark soft pencil nothing would trace onto the dried glue. In the end I had to hand draw the letters onto each one.

Love!

Apologies for the lack of staging.

Not too shabby huh!

So there you have it, yet more wooden blocks. Enjoy!
Thanks for popping by.





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Wooden blocks

Whilst scouring the net for inspiration (as always cos my imagination is non existant) I noticed alot of wooden blocks with lettering or phrases on them - love em!
A while back I had a go at 'these' ones and loved the outcome but I'm really wanting to have a go at the ones that look like childrens building blocks.

So here is what I came up with:

and:

You wouldn't believe how simple these were to make.
Both sets began the same way. For the 'HOME' set I cut 4 blocks from a length of 2"x2" scrap wood and each one was sanded quite alot. To get the curved edges I used a seriously hard core piece of sandpaper (I do have mechanical tools for the job but I luuurve hand sanding) and then I used 2 other grades to smooth it out.

unsanded left, sanded right. But I'm guessing you knew that!

Next I gave it 2 thin coats of Patio Paint, waited for it to dry and then sanded those corners and edges back.
When it came to the lettering I discovered the ink was out in the printer - don't you just love it when that happens! NOT!! - and my Cricut machine blade obviously needs replacing as it just teared anything I put in it - I'm soooo not organised!
Just as I was about to produce a mammoth sulk I remembered a book on lettering my mum gave me a couple of weeks ago which is full of font samples in the back. Saved!!!
So I simply traced the letters the way I did for 'this' project onto paper, traced again on the reverse of the paper, laid it on the block and scribbled over it to trace the letter to the block.
Finally I used my 'stabilo' & 'Sharpie' permanent pens and traced the letters - seemples!

Sitting nicely on an old book on my sideboard.

Finished 'HOME' blocks.

The 'Home Sweet Home' blocks were produced the same way except for longer cuts of the 2"x2" obviously.
Originally I painted them Laura Ashleys 'Duck Egg' but as it dried I decided it wouldn't really look quite right with the other projects it was going to go with so I went over the 'Duck Egg' with Patio paints 'Patio Brick'.
Once dried I sanded those edges and corners again and a little to the fronts as well.
Originally I wanted to do the lettering White but it looked awful. I'm a bit picky when it comes to my lettering and if I feel the control isn't right then I'm not going to like the outcome. Obviously with no White pen (Do those exist?) I had to use paint and an adapted paintbrush - it's so never going to work!
Looked terrible so I started again and traced letters the same way as above and went over it with the trusty 'Stabilo' & 'Sharpie' pens.

'Home Sweet Home' sitting on my 'Shabby Shelf ' which hasn't been put up yet!

I absolutely enjoyed making these. It's always nice when a project takes such a small amount of time especially if you have larger pieces on the go too.
I'm going to make more of these blocks for Christmas decorations so look out for more of em!

Thanks for popping in again. Hope you liked em. Please leave a comment as I read every single one and love to get them. xx




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Shabby Shelf

Projects have been a tad slow for me over the last wee while. I have loads of ideas and inspiration jingling around in my head but it tends to get to the point where I have so many projects going on that none of them actually get finished - how many others suffer from this infliction I wonder?

Anyways I've had a project for the hallway planned for ages. I wanted to make a pinboard from an old frame, a shabby shelf with hooks and some kind of table for underneath.
The pinboard idea has changed numerous times and is now nothing like a pinboard nor is it finished.
The table for underneath the shelf is still sitting in the shed and still looks exactly like what it is - a pine chest of drawers.

The Shabby shelf however is complete - Tada!

This entire shelf started out in life as a drawer - yep a drawer! A drawer that came from the pine chest I was given and the remainder of which will make a nice little table for below the shelf.

Basically I took 2 drawers apart, took the pine knobs off the front and used the fronts as the shelf ledge.
The first one I did I painted 'Patio Brick' and then went over with 'Oyster' from Laura Ashley paints (I picked up a tester pot for 50p).
Unfortunately when I sanded it down for that shabby look it ended up looking pink - so not the look I was going for. I'm not sure if it was the sanding down that created the Pink hint or the Laura Ashley paint having a pinkish tinge to it, either way - Urghhhh!
So I sidelined that shelf and then made another one, this time painting it 'Cloud White' and 'Oyster' and then sanded it down for that shabby look.

For the corbels I got the idea from a fabulous website called 'Not just a Housewife'. I'd bookmarked those corbels intending to make them just like Stacy but for the life of me I could not get one to resemble the other and lost patience. In the end I decided to use them as end brackets instead.
I cut these corbels from scrap wood with my trusty Dewalt jigsaw after I made a template by drawing the shape on paper first, cutting it out and using these to draw round.  They then got the same treatment and paint colours as the shelf top.

The back board was the back board from the drawer I took apart and made the shelf with.

Next I painted 3 of the pine knobs from the drawers in 'Patio Brick' and sanded them back a tad before fitting them to the back board.
During this process I came up with a simple idea for holding the knobs while painting them. Up until now I would awkwardly hold them, drop them more often than not and have to paint or spray them in sections.
So I drilled 3 extra long screws all the way through a piece of scrap wood (the sides of the drawers) and then screwed the knobs on making it super duper easy to paint and not having to sit on anything while they dried. Seemples!

 

Remember the shelf I first did that turned out Pink?  Well I didn't want to just waste it so I joined it back to back with the new shelf top and it gave the ledge that chunkier look - score!

So there you have it, my new shabby shelf.

Thanks for taking a look.



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From yuk to Plum

So, I've been working on revamping old furniture for our new bedroom and I've just finished the second to last piece - just one more piece to go.
The colour theme is cream and Plum but you'll  have to take my word for that as the photos are showing more of a White/Purple theme.
This last piece was a dodgy old set of drawers I happened upon in a charity shop for £20. I loved it straight away but dithered about paying £20 and so walked away from it. All that night I regretted it and so the next day my very patient husband took me back to the town so I could snap it up - a well made six drawer set for £20, what was I thinking of walking away!
So this is the drawer set as it was

Yup, typical old fashioned grotty brown set of drawers straight from the sixties. The handles were bad enough (plasticky by the way) but just look at those awful ball feet and they weren't easy to get off either.
But get em off I did followed quickly by those awful handles *TOP TIP - number the drawers in sequence as you remove them, it makes replacing them sooooooo much easier * and then I set about sanding the whole thing down mainly to get a decent surface for the paint to key to.
The surface was in a good condition considering its age and the fact that it's probably seen alot of movement over time, just a few surface scratches that needed a bit of filler.
During that process I decided I didn't like the legs of this piece - even without the ugly ball feet - and so I   added a plinth to  the front. I wasn't too worried about the sides having a plinth because once it's in its final position (an alcove) it won't be seen.
Enter the Dewalt cutter - yes, the fun part!
I drew the pattern I wanted on some paper and then transferred it to the MDF and cut it out.

Gave it a really good sand down and then screwed it to the bottom of the drawers (using good old countersunk plasterboard screws). Next I filled over the top of the screws with wood filler and once dry sanded it all down till smooth.
BUT I then decided I didn't like the pattern I had just cut out. These drawers are very rectangular and the new handles I'd chosen were square so why on earth did I do such a poncy curved pattern! Oh well, I left it and just hoped it would grow on me - it hasn't!

I wasn't about to change it now though so I'm stuck with it!
Next the whole thing was primed as were the drawer fronts and sides followed by a light sand ready for painting.
And so to the painting: On the last piece I redesigned I 'discovered' painting with a sponge as opposed to a brush. I like the sponge finish because there are no annoying brush strokes, however this time I ran out of patience with it, it was taking too many coats just to get a cover so after 2 sponge coats I did a decent brush coat, lightly sanded between coats and then gave it  a final sponge coat.
I then gave everything 3 sponged coats of floor varnish because it'll probably get alot of knocks.
The drawers had the same treatment except for a different colour of paint obviously.
I then added the drawer pulls to the front - I had to buy these pulls though because I couldn't find 8 matching in my box of goodies (need 8 because I'm currently doing the matching wardrobe) and I managed to pick these up for 0.99 each. As they were silver coloured I had to  prime, spray and laquer them with the same colour car paint spray I had used on the other pieces of furniture.
I have to say that these pulls were really awkward to fix on. Underneath them they have a couple of pins that dig into the wood as they're screwed on from inside the drawer - a fab idea but it meant that I couldn't make adjustments to them to make them straight at the point of them being tight but loose enough to move (if you get me). I had to be spot on from the start which is difficult on your own.
Once that was sorted though I just had to get it indoors and put it all together.
*small problem* Despite me checking the running of the drawers at certain stages, when I got them indoors 2 of them wouldn't close (see the piccie). I was tempted to take it straight back out and sand them down but I suspect the wood has drawn in moisture from the air in the workshop - it's happened before- and therefore I've decided to leave it a week or so indoors and see if they shrink as they dry out.
Fingers crossed!
Anyways this is the finished deal:

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.




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