My 3 Monsters: I Just Came to Say, "Hello"

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4.05.2013

I Just Came to Say, "Hello"

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

Hello, my dear friends!! I am so looking forward to this weekend. It's our church's semi-annual General Conference which will be televised. I can't wait to hole-up in my jammies all weekend, working on projects in between the uplifting sessions. I found some curtains at the thrift store today that will be getting a little makeover before going into the boys' room and I have an old furniture find that needs a little paint job. Heaven!

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

Before I go into hiding for a few days, I wanted to share a cute little pallet art project that I whipped up the other night. I just love DIY art!  Now that Easter has come and gone I need to pack up the bunnies, which left me with a blank spot in my spring vignette.  I had some wood shims left in the pack I bought for the bunny pallet art so I decided to make another, less season-specific mini pallet to take its place. I made this one a little different than the last and it feels {and looks} significantly more . . . substantial.

Start out by buying the contractor pack of wood shims.  The regular-people pack is smaller -- not only in quantity, but in size.  The contractor shims are longer and wider and not much more expensive.  Then, because shims are like long, skinny triangles that are reeeeealllly thin on one end, you need to glue two shims together to give them some sturdiness.  I don't know why that hadn't occurred to me before.

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

I glued together 13 pairs of shims for this pallet - 10 for the front and 3 to brace the back.  Lay out your wood slats for the front of your "pallet" and then glue the others to the back to hold it all together.

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

I made sure not to line up the edges too perfectly since pallet art is supposed to be a bit rustic.  I knew I wanted a distressed paint finish so I sprayed on several coats of paint in 3 different colors, finishing with my main color  {Valspar's La Fonda Mirage - my new favorite paint color for spring}.

paint colors for distressed paint finish

Once the paint had dried I sanded it to reveal all the colors underneath.  Around the edges I sanded all the way down to the natural wood for a really rustic effect.

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

With all the building, painting and distressing complete, the really hard part began - deciding on one word to paint down in the bottom corner.  Something meaningful, but season-less.  Something happy, but not cheesy.  We tossed around "peace', "happy", "family" and "love".  All got the thumbs down from someone.  It finally came down to either "home" or "hello".  After going back and forth for several minutes, Brent and I decided on "hello".  It's cheerful and concise.  Plus, this pallet is hanging in the closest thing we have to an entryway.  I wrote the word on the pallet in chalk and then went over it with acrylic paint.

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy

I love the way it turned out.  When Sis saw it she said, "So, you went with hello, did you?  Meh.  It's your baby."  Punk.  For the record, she had voted for home. Whatever.  The layers of color really give it some depth and interest.

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy
So here's my new entryway ... in progress.  What do you think?  {Other than that I obviously need a photography lesson...}

DIY art, palet projects, wood shim, wall decor diy
 Have a great weekend everyone!!

I'll be linking up at:
  Lil\'Luna

13 comments:

  1. I love this! Where do you buy your spray paint? These colors are beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks!! I get all my spray paint at Lowe's because they don't keep it locked up and I hate trying to find someone to unlock the case for me at craft stores. Plus they usually have pretty good colors ...

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  2. Awesome! I love it! I have a package of shims (probably not the contractor ones, though...) this could be a neat idea for me. Thanks for the inspiration.
    I saw you featured over at Looksi.
    Debbie :)

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  3. Super cute. I never would have thought about using shims to fake a pallet. Great job!

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  4. I LOVE IT!!!! want to try it! where did you get the wreath holder for the hairbows.. love that too and want to make some just for the decor!!!! My family soudns like yours. cept i am the one hwo usualy clutters our enty way.. this might help!!!! and where dod yo get the chicken wrie frame.. did you make that too? vschnorr at zoomtown dot com..

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I got the wreath holder from either decorsteals.com or antiquefarmhouse.com, I can't remember which. I made the chicken wire frame myself -- it's a super easy project!

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  5. I love this, i love the rustic look and how you did three layers and then sanded it. Might have a go myself as i need some artwork for the hallway

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    Replies
    1. I would love to see a photo if you do!

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  6. Anonymous19 May, 2014

    I absolutely love this! So creative! Thanks for posting this tutorial! What did you mount on the back to hang it? Also, when you sprayed the 3 colors did you wait until one dried before applying the others? I'm so excited to try this!

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you like it! I didn't make a conscious effort to wait for the paint to dry in between coats, but the layers were thin enough that they dried very quickly. Just make sure it's completely dry before sanding. To hang it I hot-glued a loop of ribbon to the back, which works well. If I did it again, I would use a saw-tooth picture hanger.

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  7. What size was this piece when it was all done?

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