Saturday, September 1, 2012

PALLET SHELF.....Finally!

For some reason I have always admired pallet stuff.  I love the rustic barn wood look of old pallets.  Take a peek at the pallet shelf I made.
I had a terrible time deciding what to make out of my pallet.  I scoured the Internet and had a whole folder of ideas.  But, I was just stuck on what to do for my own project and quite frankly, I was intimidated by the whole thing.  I commented on my friend Kelly's ( live.laugh.rowe)  pallet project.  (She has made some great pallet projects and you can see them here and here.) I told her I had a pallet, but just couldn't make myself pick a project and get going on it.  She is so sweet and she knew just what I needed......a deadline!  She sent me an email and challenged me to face my fears and make a project by September first.  I agreed to do it and to make sure I kept my promise, I said it out loud in a blog here
(Don't laugh....sometimes that really helps me just do something!)
Thank you so much Kelly, I really needed some motivation!  Apparently, Jessica at The Thriftiness Miss was having the same problem because here is the comment she left on my post...
"Wow I have the same problem... I have a perfectly good pallet just begging to be made into something great.. Good luck with the project planning :)" 
Well, I figured one good turn deserves another, so I responded back with the same deadline challenge that Kelly gave me!  Guess what?  Jessica rose to the challenge!  I love that girl!  More about her project at the bottom of this page.
On to my project....
I had this pallet I had been saving.
It's a good looking pallet in really good shape, but I had decided I wanted something more rustic looking.  We use a lot of pallets for our pumpkins here at the farm and we have some stacked down in the field.  Sam and I went down and picked out one that was a little rougher.
I got out a few tools and went to work.  OH MY GOSH...taking a pallet apart is serious work and it's really hard not to crack or break the boards as you are doing it!  You have to go slow, prying each nail up a little at a time and even that is no guaranty.  Two and a half hours later, I had all of the boards off of the base and when I lined them all up, they looked pretty good.
I finally settled on a rustic looking shelf with a big backing piece because I thought it would make a great backdrop for my project photos.  (Practical, eh?)  So.....it's off to my father-in-law's shop to use some major tools.
We figured out how we wanted the boards laid out and saved one for the actual shelf and one for the back.  Then, flipped them over so that we could attach a couple of pieces to the back of the shelf to hold it all together.
To make the two pieces for the back, I took one pallet board and using this bad boy....
split it in two pieces right down the middle.  This was my first chance to use a power saw table and it was fun!  But, the fun just keeps coming because now these two pieces needed trimmed down.  Enter the chop saw....
I'll be saving these little end pieces to hold up the shelf that's going on the bottom of this project.
Now, my friend Sunny at Life In Rehab has some wonderful kids who help her all the time.  She calls them her "minions" and I've always been jealous of her for having such wonderful help, but.....
I had two of my own "minions" for this project and they both have engineering degrees.  (Not that engineering degrees were needed on this project.)  My sweet husband Sam and his awesome brother Craig just couldn't let me have all the fun, so they jumped in and put the two back pieces on.
Then, they attached the shelf to the bottom of the back board.
Aren't they awesome!  Eat your heart out Sunny!  (Just kidding...these two are not usually at my disposal and I felt very lucky to have them that day!)
Here are my very own minions with the finished shelf!
Thank you Craig and Sam!  Thank you also to my wonderful father-in-law, Charles for letting us use his shop and tools!
I have already used my pallet shelf backboard this week on one of  my project photos.  Did you notice it in my Fall Wreath photo?
There is a nail on the backboard for hanging any picture or wreath projects I make.

It makes my Autumn Vase that I posted yesterday look even more awesome sitting on that shelf.
 And of course....I can use a combination of the two to showcase a vignette of several projects.

I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of my pallet project and you'll be seeing it more often in the future!  As for that other pallet...oh....I have a plan for it too, but it can wait a little while.
Now....my good friend Jessica at The Thriftiness Miss has met her project deadline challenge today too, so let's go over and check it out!  She's an awesome blogger who was kind enough to join me in this adventure!
Jessica
click HERE to see her pallet project debut

Linking up to any or all of these great parties:




42 comments:

  1. Oh that's great, so autumny and farmy at the same time.....I need minions!

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  2. I love this Danni!It's so adorable with your autumn decorations too :) I bet you could do it up so pretty for Christmas too! Thanks so much for inviting me on your challenge I had such a fun time!

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  3. The cat tails in that wreath are gorgeous! I love the shelf too, so rustic. great job.

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  4. Wow! What a great idea. I love how you decorated your pallet shelf. Adorable!

    Dee

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  5. You did it! Love that shelf, and shame on me for not noticing it. I was discussing pallets with my hubby a few days ago, and much to my surprise I found out he throws them away ALL THE TIME!!! Whaaaaat....GASP! Now I'm trying to come up with a way to save all of his pallets for projects ahhaha.

    Anyway....your wreath, vase, and scarecrow look great on the shelf, and the backboard is a fantastic idea Danni!

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  6. Looks terrific, Danni. I would add a little stencil across the top! Just kidding. I am jealous of those two hunky minions and that fab workshop. I wonder, could you add more shelves on the backboard? I would love this hanging on my fence!

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  7. I like that shelf so much but what really caps it off is being able to use it for your photos. The wreath and the vase look fabulousin front of it. Nice job AND you beat the deadline, lol.

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  8. Love it!! (But chop saws are scary... ;)

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  9. Danni, You are so ready for fall now with your pallet project finished! I love that you committed to the deadline and followed through...you must be so thrilled! So many uses too! I love your autumn pallet - so fun!!!

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  10. Yay! So excited to see that you met the deadline *giggle*. Fabulous and functional...and you got to play with power tools. Woot! Congrats. Looks great and makes a fantastic prop for styling your projects. Hugs!

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  11. Good for you girl! I am glad you found such a great use for your pallet, and it turned out really nice! I wish I had two good looking minions, wanna share one? Lol!

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  12. Wow! Your pallet shelf really makes the vignette pop! What a wonderful idea you came up with and to have help at it, too! I wish!!!

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  13. I love it!! I see so many cute pallet ideas, this is great!

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  14. I love it! I so need a pallet to work with. Your ideas are just incredible Danni xxx

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  15. Now you know you can do it, so we can expect more pallet wood marvels from you in the future!

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  16. Such a great shelf! I love the look of pallet items too. I'd love for you to share this at my MightyCrafty Mondays link party: http://mightycrafty.blogspot.com/2012/09/mightycrafty-mondays-round-10.html#.UESs-ZbTDfY

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  17. It turned out great! Very cute idea-enjoy:@)

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  18. This is beautiful! Would love if you'd link up to our Countdown to Fall link party! Hope to see you there! Happy Labor Day!
    http://dixie-n-dottie.blogspot.com/2012_09_03_archive.html

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  19. How beautiful, and it turned out great. Loving the cattails and the ribbon you chose. I have had a pallet out in my backyard forever, and maybe this inspired me to get going! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

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  20. I love this! I'm a pallet refinishing girl - I'm addicted.... found you at Craft-o-maniac's linky party, and am excited to be your newest follower! Hope you can visit soon, maybe link up at my party or participate even in my Harvest Tour of Homes....
    Have a great week!
    -Heather
    stringtownhome.blogspot.com

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  21. Danni, the shelf came out so nice. I'm glad you finally decided what to do with the pallet. You are very lucky to have the minions. I can sometimes get my dad to help me out, but my husband isn't too crafty. I like your little scarecrow. He's cool! Have a good week!

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  22. Such a great idea, it looks stunning! And lovely Fall decor, Thanks for sharing

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  23. This is GREAT!!!!!! You can use it for soooo many different things!! YAY!!!

    Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer... From Dream to Reality!

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  24. i didn't realize this was a shelf-what a great idea!

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  25. How did I miss this earlier? So cute Danni! I love pallets!!

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  26. There's just someting about pallets that I love. I guess it's that rustic look. Congrats on your first pallet project. It turned out great! I have yet to do one myself, but it's on my list. Thanks so much for visiting and following. I'm so pleased to follow you back.

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  27. This turned out great! I love that you could use your little painted vase on the shelf in the vignette. Have an awesome weekend!
    Blessings,
    Nici

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  28. Adorbs! Love how this turned out! Plus it's so versatile. You can use it for just about any decoration or vignette. Great job, friend! Thanks for linking up! Pinning!

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  29. Love this shelf. Great job!!! Thanks for sharing it on "I Gotta Try That"
    Marcie

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  30. I love it! Putting the men to work...lol. Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see you again on Monday. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  31. Love this! I've been in such a fall mood! You did a great job with this project!

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  32. That is so cute Danni! I wish I had some handy helpers. I have a pallet in my garage and I can't decide what to do with it!

    Thanks for sharing at The All Star Block Party!

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  33. Still love this - Thank you for sharing at MightyCrafty Mondays!

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  34. Great job, Danni, it looks like your pallet stash is starting to pay off!

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  35. Thank you so much for linking this up to the Pinworthy Projects Party last week! You were featured today! I hope you will stop by and grab a button.

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  36. LOVE this pallet shelf. It's so clever. A great improvement on just pallet art! :)

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  37. Congratulations! You've been featured on Wicked Awesome Wednesday! Feel free to stop by the website and pick up your button.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  38. Newest follower here! I found you through the blog hop, you have a wonderful blog! I hope you stop by and say hello, I'm having a giveaway right now!

    Look forward to reading more.
    -Melanie @ meandmr.com

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  39. Love your pallet shelf and what better way to get something accomplished than to set a deadline. Great tip! By the way, I can only imagine that it must not be easy having minions. Best to keep them occupied :-)

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