During our unplanned and unexpected home renovation project after the tree fell on our house, I was able to snag this pallet from the work site before it landed in the construction company’s dumpster.  At the time I didn’t know what I was going to do with it but what crafty person would turn their back on the leftover pallet? Certainly not me!  Eventually I came up with this idea for a home sign and planter in all in one project for my side entrance.

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Last week I posted that I had inherited a few items from our home renovation, and one of them was a pallet I snatched before they threw it in the dump truck.  My inspiration for my own version of a painted pallet sign came from many searches on Pinterest and a little imagination of my own.

 

Pallet Sign and Planter All In One

For this project you will need:

• Pallet
• Spray Paint
• Cans from your recycle bin
• Acrylic Paints
• Flowers of your choice
• Templates for the design

 

 

The whole project was fairly simple and I completed it about half a day, which includes drying time on two coats of paint.

First I spray painted the rough pallet with Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover in Seaside, gloss finish. The pallet needed two coats of spray paint to cover the front and edges of the pallet.  I left the back side unfinished mainly because I ran out of spray paint, and it allows me to remake the pallet in the future if I decide on having a double-sided themed pallet sign.  One for multiple seasons.

 

Next I created the flower pattern using a glass bowl as a template for the center of the flower and to make the petals.   I used a 4″ diameter small glass bowl as the center.

 

 

 

I then traced around two smaller glass bowls to make the shape of the petals.

 

 

You will just need to trace the outer edges of the two bowls, the top one slighter larger than the bottom bowl, and then connect a line to the edges with a ruler.  Easy enough template for a flower petal.  You can also use paper cups in different sizes or whatever else you may have on hand to create the pattern for the petals.

This is how I created my template for the flower and petals, but the design of your own pallet sign is completely up to you and how you want it to look.   I love flowers so this was my first thought for the pallet sign was to have painted flowers for the Spring and Summer.

 

 

After making a simple template,  I cut out the pattern and used the first bowl and then petal template to trace a design onto the pallet with a pencil.

I used acrylic craft paints to fill in the design of the flowers.  It took two coats of paint for each flower.

 

Adding the family name and date

I added the family name and established date by following other ideas found on Pinterest to transfer designs to wood signs.  It is very easy to create the the lettering style in Word and printed it out on my ink jet printer.

Next I used a piece of chalk to trace over the words on the back of the paper.  I then attached the paper with painters tape to the pallet, and used a ball point pen to deeply trace over the pattern of the words and numbers.  This transferred the chalk residue on the back of the letters to the pallet for a template to follow with acrylic paint.

There are many other ways to transfer print to wood signs, some that are much easier than this, but this is what I had on hand this weekend so this is the method I used. Honestly, I struggled with this method, so I opted not to include pictures of the process on this post for now.  I strongly suggest doing more research on Pinterest to find a method that works best for you.

Update:  With the release of the ever popular Cricut machines this step of the project is now even easier and you can achieve much cleaner lines. 

 

Making the flower pots

I am a firm believer in recycling and reusing anything that can be recycled or reused.  So of course for this project I used cans from my recycling bin.  The cans needed drainage holes in the bottom and that was easy to do by punching holes in the bottom with a nail and hammer. I then used a can opener to pry open a slot in the top side of each can.  

To give the cans a bright punch of color, I spray painted the cans in Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover in Key Lime, gloss finish.

Since a pallet is made from rough wood, I didn’t mind hammering in nails in the boards to hang the painted cans – aka flower pots.   This way they are easy to remove and change out the flowers with the season.

 

 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to hang the cans on the pallet but quickly figured out a nail was the best options – and what I had on hand at the time.  But then I needed to figure out how to actually hang the can.  Did I use wire around the rim or punch a hole in the can?  

I decided to punch a hole in the can but very very quickly learned that does not work with the hammer and nail as I used on the bottom of the can for drainage holes.  All I ended up doing was denting the can and making it look a bit battered.

 

 

Finally, I remembered that I had an old fashioned type can opener in the kitchen so I used that to easily create a opening on the side of the painted cans.  Problem solved!

 

 

 

 

I opted not to apply a sealant to the sign at this time because I may come back later and use sand paper to make the sign a little more rustic, or just wait and see what the weather naturally does to it.

I also painted the other side of this pallet in a winter theme that you can read about here.

 

 

 

 

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.”  Psalm 133:1