Outdoor Pallet Sign

I have been wanting to join the trend of making something from a pallet forever! Last fall my husband and I did some landscaping to our front yard and had some pallets left over from the project. My husband  for some reason doesn't understand why I hang onto things that are no longer needed or belong in a dumpster. I am slowly starting to get him to look through my junkin' baby blue eyes. I am working on our little patio and I wanted something that would remind  me of what I needed to do while I was outside and that is RELAX. Sometimes I need things spelled out for me. I knew a sign is what I needed and I knew my junky little pallet would be perfect. So sit back and relax and I will show you how to make this cheap and easy pallet sign. 

The first thing you need to do is dis-assemble your pallet. I am not going to lie to you friends this part was the hardest part. These pallets are made to withstand a lot of weight and are very strong. 

I asked my handsome handyman for his assistance. I did offer him some help and got one stinking board off. It was all I could do to get it off. I was a hot mess by the time I had the one board off. I could see the neighbors watching me and I am sure they were thinking what is this girl doing. Heck, I kept asking myself the same question. Anyway, the best way we could find to get the boards off was to take a crow bar and rubber mallet and just start hammering the crow bar under the nails. It would take a lot of swings, but the board would finally pop off of the pallet. We also had to keep in mind not to pull the board off too fast because it would crack the wood. Just remember slow and steady wins the race!

After all of our hard work we ended up with a pile of beautiful weathered wood! 

PUTTING THE SIGN TOGETHER Step by Step

Step 1: I took (3) pieces of the pallet wood and laid them vertically. I tried to find three pieces that would line up together because some of the pallet pieces were very warped.

Step 2: I used a hacksaw to cut (2) smaller pieces of the pallet for the back of the sign. I cut them down to about 12" in length. 

Step 3: I glued the (2) small pieces and glued them horizontally to the back of the (3) pieces. I used Titebond wood glue to glue the pieces to the back of the sign. 

Step 4: I used finishing nails just to to give it a little extra support

Step 5: This is totally optional but I placed something heavy on the two pieces of wood that were glued on the back just to make sure the glue would dry to the wood.

*Also, I would recommend you let the sign dry for 24 hours before hanging it up.

ADDING THE LETTERS

I found these wooden birch  letters at Hobby Lobby. They were on sale for about a $1.05 and they are 5" in size.

 I spray painted them with Ruste-Oleum Gloss Fern color. Isn't fern the cutest name for a spray paint? I lined the letters up on the board before gluing them on. I have found it easiest to use chalk to mark where the letters go so I don't get them on glued on crooked. 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a cozy spot in your home where you can sit back and relax. 

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Savvy Southern Style

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Topsy Turvy Herb Garden

Hello friends! I am going to share with you an easy tutorial on how to create your own topsy turvy herb garden. Let me just add this side note as a word of precaution. I am not an expert gardener by any means. I am still a newbie to anything garden or flower related, with that being said I haven't killed any herbs or flowers this year! Woo hoo!!!  Are you ready to learn how to make this? 

Supplies:

* 4 - 6" Tall Terracotta Pots 

* 1 - 8" Tall Terracotta Pot (For the Base)

* 1 - 3/8 IN X 4-FT #3 Steel Rebar Pin (That's exactly what it said on the tag from Lowes) 

* I also spray painted my striped pots with RusteOlem Flat White Spray Paint and RusteOlem KeyLime Painter's Touch Spray Paint for the stripes. You will want to use primer on the pots before you paint. The paint will stick much better. 

* Herbs or Flowers of your choice (I used Pineapple Sage, Cat Nip, Cilantro, Rosemary and Mint)

Here are the pots I used to stack on the re-bar! I already had the blue pots. I wanted a little color added to them so I painted the terracotta pots white and then used painter's tape to mark off the stripes and painted them green.

Once I had my pots painted I asked my handy man to hammer the rebar into the ground. He used a rubber mallet and hammered about two feet of the rebar into the ground. You will want to make sure you have a good amount in the ground so your pots don't fall down. 

Now here comes the fun part! We started stacking the pots by starting off with the base (the 8" pot). I started filling the pots with dirt and planted the first herb.

I then stacked the next pot on the base pot and filled it with dirt. I know it looks like that mint is crushed but it really isn't. There is actually a lot of room on the back side to grow. 

Then I add the next pot and repeated until I reached the end of the bar.

If you have some rebar that is left just hanging out go ahead and hammer it down until you are satisfied with how it looks. I also added a little planter stake to cover it up (as seen in picture below).

I used popsicle sticks for the plant stakes. I used chalkboard paint and spray painted the top with the same green spray paint from the pots. (Sorry the pictures are a little different in color. I took some pictures later in the day during the progress of the project). 

Aww, the finished product! I absolutely love how it turned out. I hope you all have a good weekend and are also able to enjoy some beautiful weather!

Also, if you are looking for another way to make this topsy tuvy planter go check out Beth from Home Stories A to Z. She turned hers into a bird bath!

By the way, did you know I on Bloglovin, Facebook and Instagram! :)

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