A couple of weeks back I mentioned on facebook that we were working on some pallet projects. In the Fall we had visited a strange local junk yard type place with so many random things for sale. Rusty old cars and tractors, barn boards, windows, you name it, it was literally a treasure trove of junk and unique finds.
We spotted an old pallet that had thinner boards than regular ones and asked the man about it. He said we could have it for free and handed my husband a crow bar to remove the planks. This thing was dirty beyond belief and even covered in tiny crumbles of glass, it was hard to believe we could use it for anything really at the time but with no money out of pocket, we decided to give it a try.We pressure washed the wood and then stored the planks in the garage for a couple of months and just finally got around to working on them. I sanded the wood down and we were ready to go with our first two projects. We decided to make a planter box and a wall mirror, we didn’t use any patterns or designs, my husband just took my vision and created it himself. He’s good like that.
The planter box was our first little project for the holidays. We used some round headed nails to nail it together on the ends that look kind of cool. They were left over from a construction project we’d already done. The greenery was clipped from outside so the cost of this one was just the candles.
Our second pallet project was a mirror. I had seen one similar to this in a catalogue that I thought would like nice in our new livingroom and mentioned it to my husband, but it was almost $300. One day shortly after, my husband called from Home Depot saying he saw some mirror tiles on clearance and maybe we could just make the mirror I saw ourselves. We assumed at the time that we would have to buy the wood, but when we ended up with the pile of pallet wood, we decided to go ahead and give it a try.
We had planned on staining the mirror and tested a few different ones out but the in the end we liked the way it looked naturally and left it with it’s original patina. Total cost for us to make this was $2.50! We only used half of the package of mirror tile. The most expensive part was actually buying a secure hanging system because it weighs a ton!
I think we still have a bit of the wood left over so we might be able to create one more thing before it’s gone. It was really fun to dream things up and see them come to life and the whole thing was a fun family adventure. From exploring the junk yard together to helping the boys pressure wash the wood and the youngest helped me sand the wood as well, it was nice to see the boys get involved. So thankful for my husbands awesome skills to put everything together nicely! The projects look great in the house and boy do they have a story to tell!
I love places that sell all kinds of junk and love using stuff & creating something new with it. We recently made an outdoor Christmas Tree out of driftwood that we found on the beaches this summer. Only cost was the centre rod and a dollar store star. We already had the lights for it.
That sounds awesome!
Wow, the mirror and the planter box look super. Very impressive what you made out of old pallet wood.
They turned out pretty good!
I love both pieces! They look like you bought them at Pottery Barn! 🙂
such a nice compliment! Thank you!
Great pieces! I have two pallets sitting in my shed waiting for the perfect project!
They are absolutely stunning, it’s amazing what you can make out of pallets!! my husband and I love going through junk yards and what not, you never know what you’ll find!!
they are a treasure trove!
Very cute ideas, love how they turned out!
Thank you!
Beautiful pieces of work. Well done!
Thanks so much!
I wish I was crafty like that because both are beautiful
I especially like the mirror!
thank you!
…I think I’m leaning towards making simple book shelves with my pallets.
that sounds neat! You’ll have to show me a picture, feel free to post it to my facebook page when you are done!
The mirror came out so well!
Thanks so much!
yeah we have toss ours out at work as well….they are extremely thin, usually have fewer boards then reg pallets and weigh way less (I can actually lift them whereas a reg sturdy pallet I cant’) I havent figured out a way yet how to get all the chemicals off of boards though so wont do any pallet projects. All of ours come from a warehouse so you don’t know whats been on them. Chemicals 100% for sure, food, etc …we once had a smell in the plant and when we finally found it, it was rotten salmon that was in a stack (we get a semi load of pallets at once so thats well over 200 stacked to the ceiling … I’ll never forget that salmon incident LOL ….
oh no that sounds gross! lol
I must say i’m impressed , the mirror and the planter box are perfect.What a great job!
Thanks a bunch!
Nice!
Glad you like them!
They both look amazing but I love the planter box decorated for the season the best. I love doing projects like these myself. Great to see and read about yours. Well done!
Thanks so much!
I went through a phase a few years ago being FASCINATED by pallet projects. I’d even get how-to books out of the library. Your project looks much more do-able than mine.
My husband is pretty talented so that helped a lot! I couldn’t have done it on my own!
Great job on the mirror!!
Thanks!
What great recycling ideas!! I just love projects like this! It killed me to throw good stuff away when we can recreate them into treasures!
It’s nice to upcycle materials, it would have cost a lot to buy new wood for that mirror
You did a great job on your center piece and the mirror. It`s wonderful when you can make something from junk and save the landfill.
Thank you, glad you had a chance to check it out!
my friend had her housband make me a table trough out of tobacco slats. I have mine on my kitchen table.
oops husband
Wow those are lovely!
I really love what you have done,i can’t wait to make my own pallet project
Very nice. I love the concept of turning something old into something new and beautiful.