DIY Anniversary Wood Heart Pallet

I've recently joined the team at Clear Scraps for a new adventure in design team work.  Clear Scraps is unlike anything I've done before with a lot more options in home decor and crafts, but you will still see some of my normal paper crafts mixed in too!. Today is my very first post and I'm kicking it off with a home decor piece!

Anniversary Heart Pallet

The moment I laid eyes on the Heart DIY Pallet Shape, I knew exactly what I wanted to create with it!  Some dear friends are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this month.  The wife had recently mentioned liking this saying, so I filed that moment in my head, knowing that I could create something special for them!

Isn't that the cutest phrase?  It could work for any year too!  Creating this took a little time but only because I was a little fussy in creating it!

Heart Pallet Close-ups

I did several layers on it for the base - combining wood stain and white acrylic paint.  My final layer was white acrylic paint and then I really roughed it up!  Sand paper, nails, you name it, I worked hard to make it as rustic looking as possible.  I actually kind of love this "farmhouse" style for this reason: no stress in getting the paint line free or if you miss a spot!  The imperfections are embraced!

Once all the paint had dried, I cut out words using my electronic cutting machine.  I considered tracing them and painting, but I had brown vinyl.  I knew that would be a little less work and if it went on bad, I could pull it up and paint it instead.  Thankfully it went very smoothly!  I love how the whole thing came together and can't wait to see the happy couple's faces when I give it to them!  Thanks for joining me today and be sure to visit the Clear Scraps Shop to get your hands on these beautiful Wood Pallets!  Think about all the holiday gifts you can start creating - personalized and fun for you too!

Autumn Pumpkin Pallet - DIY Farmhouse Decor

My house is severely lacking in Autumn decor - be it Halloween or Thanksgiving or just general fall themed - it's almost non-existent!  Enter the fabulous Tall Pumpkin DIY Pallet to the rescue!  Christine joining you with a fun and EASY home decor piece for this gorgeous season!

Tall Pumpkin DIY Pallet

Tall Pumpkin DIY Pallet Close-ups

When I originally started working, I thought I'd use this as porch decor.  But when I set it down on my fireplace hearth I really liked how it looked - so it's staying right there!  Flanked by a couple of pumpkins and a cute little scarecrow, it really brightens up the room!

Seeing as I can't seem to get fall decor up,  this needed to be a pumpkin that could hang around longer than October. Additionally, I knew I wanted to take a slightly less traditional approach to decorating this.  Rather than painting it orange, I opted for all white!  In doing so I was able to give it that farmhouse feel that I just can't get enough of!  I then hustled off to a dollar store and got some leaves.  I adhered those to the bottom using Adhesive Dots as well as weaving their stems between the pallets for extra hold. Just adding leaves and avoiding any Halloween specific decor made it so it can last all fall, until I am ready to get out those Christmas decorations!

Painting it white only required two layers of paint.  Once the paint dried I sanded it a bunch to rough it up. Then I added some brown paint streaks.  I didn't allow those to dry completely before I smudged them up.  I wanted to create a distressed look with those so I simply wiped over them with a rag and then once completely dry ran my sand paper over them again.  All in all it was a fun creation and I'm really happy with how it turned out!  Be sure to check out all the Wood Pallet Shapes over at the Clear Scraps shop!