DIY - Pallet Board Projects

Earlier this summer I posted some pallet wood projects that Mr. Wonderful made with some free pallets he picked up. I had asked him if he would make me some rustic decorations that I could use at an outdoor Bridal Shower and also mentioned that I knew where he could pick up some free wood for the projects. He loves a project and you can't beat free so he was all in. The initial projects were quick and easy and were finished in no time however he did not use anywhere near all the wood so I suggested he make a simple little free standing counter for the backyard. Something like a little Tiki Bar. Something with a bit of character. I thought it would be cute and could be used to hold food or maybe beverages. Well, he took the idea and made it bigger and better than I had imagined. He has been contemplating a DIY outdoor kitchen for some time and decided this would be a great way to see if it would work in our backyard space before going to all the time and expense. He did not waste any time getting started. 

He prepped the area by adding a concrete slab next to the patio. Once that was finished he framed it in.

Then the old pallet boards were attached.

Braces were added for the bar top.

In the meantime, he was preparing the boards for the counter tops which he decided to buy instead of using the pallet boards. 

We also decided we wanted a raw edge board for the bar top.  

The one he chose was too long so he had to decide on the length before he cut it. 

He used a marine varnish to seal the wood. In fact, he had to use a torch to pop the bubbles each time he put on a new layer. 

He also had a few bugs land on the wet sticky surface but was able to lift them out carefully and then get the marks they left smooth again with the torch. 

It turned out just the way we had hoped. 

The entire project ended up much bigger in size than I had first imagined however it fits the space nicely. 

We have been using it a lot and enjoying the extra outdoor counter area.

It has also come in handy for serving food as I had hoped. 

And, it definitely looks rustic, which we like. 

There was not much wood leftover after all of that, however, I had some other ideas for pallet projects but those were put on hold until we could locate some more free pallets.  

Have a wonderful Saturday! 

DIY rustic chalkboards

This seems to be the year of pallet board projects at our house and the latest is chalkboards. My sister wanted some chalkboards for my niece and her finance's upcoming wedding which will be at a horse ranch so I volunteered and then "roped" the hubs into helping too. Of course he loves to help and any project that involves tools is always a winner. Pallet boards seemed like the perfect rustic frame for the chalkboards and we were lucky enough to find another stack of them in all sizes. The best part is they were free just like all the others have been. 

The previous chalkboards Mr Wonderful has made have only been one sided however this time the only thing he could find were sheets of reversible chalkboard which means the opposite side is a dry~erase board which is fun. He decided to change his frame up to accommodate the double sides by making it tongue and groove which gives both sides a nice finish so that you could hang it either way.

He cut each of the boards 2' x 3' which left a few smaller boards that he also framed.

Temporary legs and easel stands were added to make them easy to place wherever they are needed and can be easily removed if desired. 

We have had some birthdays recently so I broke in one of the new small chalkboards. 

It was so fun that I doodled on another one. 

The messages for the large chalkboards are almost finished. The wedding signs tend take a little longer than just my usual boards since I draw the design first with regular chalk and then go back and use a chalk pen. Once they are finished I will be be back to share more of our chalkboards and some other really fun wedding projects we are working on. 

Happy Friday!

Rustic Wedding Chalkboards: part 1

A few weeks ago I posted the DIY Rustic Framed Chalkboards Mr. Wonderful made for me so that I could write on them for our nieces wedding.  While he was working on those I was doodling on a large extra piece of chalkboard to get the feel of the surface which was slightly different than traditional chalkboard and figure out the design and spacing. I started with traditional chalk which is easy to erase so I could make changes quickly without much fuss.

My sister had given me a package of chalk pens in various peach colors so I also played around with those to see how they looked. In the end I preferred the white chalk pens for the finished boards. 

Several of the chalkboards were large so it helped to sketch out my design with regular chalk first and make sure everything was spaced well and spelled correctly before using the chalk pens.

We ended up with a total of 3 large chalkboards however there were also some smaller ones as well. 

The small chalkboards were used for signage on tables. 

We decided the smaller ones needed easels also but this time they were not attached like they were on the big ones.  These free standing easels worked well and can be used for other purposes later on. 

The small easels were also made out of leftover pallet board wood like the large ones. 

There were also mini chalkboards which were for the dessert table. 

At first I thought the mini signs shown above might work on the dessert table however I had not seen the venue and was not sure how or if the clothespin would work as a clip or a stand and could not think of a quick, easy way to alter them to make them more sturdy. In the end I decided to use some chalkboard poster board I had and made tents instead.  

They were quick and easy and seemed to work fine. 

Now that you have seen my chalkboard doodles and sketches I will be back soon to share the finished Rustic Wedding Chalkboards.  

Have a awesome Autumn day!

Backyard Bridal Shower: part 1

This summer we hosted a safe and fun Backyard Bridal Shower for our niece.

A lot of thought and care went into the planning and safety measures to be sure the rules and guidelines were followed so that everyone would be safe and stay healthy.  

Masks were required so guests were asked on the invitations to bring a mask to wear however we had a supply of extra masks for anyone who may have forgotten. 

Besides signs to remind everyone to wear their mask we also supplied hand sanitizer in different locations to be sure it was readily available. 

Since the wedding will be held at the brides aunt and uncles horse ranch we tried to incorporate that theme into the bridal shower. I used my invitation design to create a coordinating welcome sign which I framed and put on the stand that Mr. Wonderful made me a while back for a tea party. 

He also made the wood placemats for the table and the pallet board boxes for the flowers.

Stamped sugar cookies were set next to each place setting. 

The brides place setting included an apron, matching face mask and a Bride to Be crown

We had assigned seating at the table so for our place markers we used assorted glass punch cups from my collection and filled each with half of a fresh orange. We  then secured flowers in the middle of each orange and inserted a little flag printed with each guests name and punched with  a heart. 

For the V.I.P.'s I made 3 reserved seating chair tags for the table just for fun along with V.I.P. face masks. 

An old pair of our kids cowboy boots came in hand for decorating and Mr. Wonderful made the  pallet boards hexagons for us. 

This is just the beginning of our fun Backyard Bridal Shower. There is much more to share so I will be back soon to post more party details. 

Happy Monday! 

Rustic Wedding Chalkboards: part 2

Barn Weddings and chalkboards are a great combination in my opinion and I was so excited when asked to do chalkboards for our nieces barn wedding. That was back in August when we still had some leftover pallet boards from the bridal shower so I mentioned that if they would like the look of pallet board framed chalkboards I could check with the hubs about making a few. They did like the idea, he said he would be happy to make them and the wheels started turning. The chalkboard construction did not take long. He made the large ones first and as time went on new signage ideas popped up and more chalkboards were made.

The large pieces of chalkboard had to be cut down a little which left perfectly sized pieces for smaller chalkboards so nothing went to waste. 

Once we arrived at the ranch we headed to the barn and set up the chalkboards in the sitting area and then looked around a little while we waited for further instructions. 

There was still a little smoke in the air from all the recent fires but the view was still amazing. 

Once we had the layout it did not take much time at all to get the chalkboards in their proper places.   

The small "puzzle" chalkboard was in the entry area near the guestbook puzzle to remind people to write their names and messages on it. 

This one was pretty self explanitory.  

So those were the large chalkboards and one of the little ones however, there are still a couple more to share.  They were made for the fun dessert table and that post will be here soon along with another really cute DIY sign!

Happy Wednesday!