Pallet Art

Wow, I apparently have not posted in quite a while! It's been pretty crazy around here, some temporary full-time employment, a few weekend trips, and not much time for my usual craftiness. And on top of that, we are moving in a little over a month, so we have spent a lot of formerly free time apartment hunting! Talk about busy! However, since my last update, our bed is finished!! Super excited about it!

In the meantime, I have been trying to come up with side projects for some additional income. My mom and I plan to get a booth at a craft fair at the end of the summer, so I'm going to need merchandise! I've come up with a quick little sewing project, and hoarded some old wood fence posts, which I'm sure the BF is totally thrilled about. :P Hopefully I can turn it into some cool wall art!

I have been working on a little organization/art project for myself here and there, and it's nearly finished: a pallet jewelry display! (Please forgive the phone pic! My poor point-and-shoot bit the dust recently)

Staining a pallet is not as easy as I thought it would be. Sure, I sanded it...on the outside. When I got to the staining part, I suddenly realized that the inside would show through the slats, and would need staining as well. Had I realized that before I had stain on about half of it, I would have gone back and hand sanded, but I guess I can say I preserved the "rustic" look of it. 

This particular pallet had three sections, and I knew I wanted to make a shelf for that cute little earring display that I nabbed from a thrift store a while back. I also figured it would be good for large bangles or watches that won't roll around or get tangled. In order to create the shelf, I used a Skil saw, and cut along the interior rails, removing the middle of the slats. 

Then I set to work on the cup hooks. I didn't realize how much jewelry I actually have, so it was a bit of a guessing game at first, and I ended up needing to make some adjustments. I hung my longest necklaces from the top, and the shorter ones will share space with my bracelets below the shelf. I also intend to add a few hooks to the side for the BF's belts. The closet 3 feet away seems to be inconvenient, lol!

My other idea for this project involves some kitschy assorted drawer pulls. I plan to use these on the lower section, which will be more at eye-level. I have a few that I've grabbed from junk dressers/chests that have been thrown out, and a couple cute (and pretty cheap) ones I found at Home Depot. I haven't quite decided to use these for necklaces or bracelets, so they aren't installed yet. There is also a horizontal bar on the lower left corner, that I just threw together from scrap wood, which was intended for bracelets, but will probably hold necklaces. (I seriously didn't know I had this much jewelry!)

My next task will be hanging this monstrous thing! After a bit of googling, I settled on Domestic Doozie's method, which uses a french cleat. I really hope there is a stud in the wall I want to hang it on, it's only about 4 feet wide. There must be one...

So although it seems to be moving at a snail's pace, the pallet is nearly done. I can't wait to get it hung up in that dead space in my bedroom!