Pallet Art: Surfboard

A group of bloggy-girlfriends and I formed a collaborative support group called Blogging 2 Better. We’ve had fun chit-chatting via the internet and conference calls each week, but we decided to give each other a summer challenge project. Why, you ask? Because we’re just crazy like that I guess! We enjoy pushing each other’s creative buttons, so to speak. The DIY/Craft challenge was to create something out of a varied, and rather obscure list of items. Staying true to Sand & Sisal form, I created the ever trendy pallet art, but surfboard style! I’m going to show you how you can make it also!

My partners in the Blogging 2 Better creative crime were the wonderful gals from East Coast Creative, House of Hepworths, Being Brooke, SAS Interiors, Perfectly Imperfect, and me! Shauna from Perfectly Imperfect has been vacationing out of the country, so we let her skip this challenge, but just this time girlfriend (wink)! We were given the following items to create something fabulous with: barn or pallet wood, the color coral, stencils, fabric, and Mod Podge.

“Kill-Me-Now!”…

is what was running through my head! I can create something out of a few items, but ALL the items? Ok, it was time to get the creative juices flowing!

I’ve had two pallets I’ve been saving ever since we laid our octagonal brick patio. I knew they were perfect for pallet art or wood signs. From the tips I’ve gathered, you want to deconstruct your pallet with a saw-zaw. I left that laborious job to Mr. Muscles. He actually was able to slice through all the nails quite quickly.

I drank far too many cups of coffee this weekend to free hand a surfboard. You can see my shaking attempt on the board… fail! So I drew one side of a surfboard on the back of some wrapping paper. Then I folded it in half and traced the other side. Cut it and unfold and you have a perfectly symmetrical surfboard! Lay it on a few chosen pallet boards and trace it with some chalk.

After the morning’s caffeine had left my system I pulled out my trusty jig-saw and cut out the surfboard shape. I stacked the two outside boards, clamped them down to my table saw and cut them both at once. I don’t like wasting time! Kill two birds with one stone, right? Always wear your safety glasses when using the saw! I love my 3M Tekk glasses. They are light weight, fit well, and look good! A girl has to look good you know?!

Keeping the boards clamped down and trimmed, I took my vibrating pad sander with a 60 grit paper to the edges to smooth it all and diminish my rough cutting. Sanders are awesome! They hide and fix so many mistakes.

To attach the three pallet boards together, I found some scrap thin board in the garage, lined it heavily with wood glue and rest it on the boards in three areas. It only took about an hour to set up. Use what you have on hand. A few paint stir sticks would have worked great also.

Now came the fun part! It was time to decorate the surfboard pallet art. I used my favorite 3M Scotch Blue Edge Lock tape to paint perfect stripes.  Click if you’d like more info on how to paint stripes in a room. Using a Martha Stewart brush for painting a light, weathered paint stripes was easy! Dip the brush in paint, rub most of it off on a plate, and then lightly stroke the brush starting on the tape and ending in the center of the wood in a cross hatch movement. The paint will look very light and weathered with this technique.  I painted a white, blue, and coral stripe. Remember the requirements? I needed coral.

The pallet and coral part of the challenge requirement were accomplished, now we move onto the stencil element. I cut a hibiscus stencil out of a transparency and painted on a few different shaped hibiscus in blue, white and coral.

We have finally arrived at the “Kill-Me-Now” part of the project. We had to use fabric and Mod Podge. Ok, I’ve got the Mod Podge element down just fine! If you’re a faithful reader of mine, then you know I just did a huge promotion for my friend Amy’s new book Mod Podge Rocks! And you can see multiple projects where I’ve used Mod Podge in the Décor Crafts Gallery. My hubs graciously sacrificed one of his beloved surf shirts for the cause. May it rest in peace. (Ancient, sweat-stained, surf attire is quite sacred apparently, to one said surfing hubs). Any-hoo… I Mod Podged the little fabric surf emblem to the surfboard skeg.

Voila! All the challenge elements were complete: pallet wood, coral, stencils, fabric and Mod Podge! I attached two eye hooks and a wire and hung it in my boys’ room.

I’ve really neglected doing much with boys room so this surfboard pallet art addition is a nice touch. My boys had painted the SURF letters a year ago and I had never hung them (slacker-mom) until now! The surfboard in the corner is my oldest sons’. He loves to surf like his dad. I love the look of the pallet wood so much that now I’m thinking “Pallet Headboard”? What do you think?

Check out what all the other awesome bloggers created with the Blogging 2 Better Summer Challenge!

Visit: Being Brooke, East Coast Creative, House of Hepworths, & SAS Interiors.

LOVE PALLET CREATIONS? You might love my Pottery Barn Inspired Beach Banner made from pallet wood.

Kim

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