• House Tour
    • Reveals
  • About
    • Smith Life
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Store Affiliates
  • Contact Me
    • Want a Button?
  • Shop
    • Floral Printable Planners
    • Paint eBooks and Packages
    • Wedding Binders & Extra Printables!
    • Planner Bundles
    • Planner Accessories
    • Home Decor Printables!
  • Cart
    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Happily Ever After, Etc.

Creating Our Own Fairytale

  • Happily Ever After, Etc.
  • Home
  • Home Decor
    • My Home
    • Paint
    • Before and After
    • Tablescapes
    • Mood Boards
    • Furniture
  • DIY & Crafts
    • New to Cricut – Start Here
    • Cricut Projects
    • Resin
    • Scrapbooking
  • Organization & Planning
    • Cricut
    • Organization
    • Planner
  • Holidays
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Easter
  • Wedding
    • Cricut Wedding Projects
    • Free Wedding Binder
    • Bride Bag- The Ultimate Wedding Planner
How to Paint a Giant Pallet with Happily Ever After, Etc

How to Paint a GIANT Pallet

Hey y'all

Today we’re going back in time…. back before this blog was started… back before I met my husband… back to when I was a young single gal just renting her first apartment. I had a shoestring budget for art and home dĂ©cor… but I wasn’t going to let a little thing like money stand in my way! When I couldn’t afford a large piece of art to go over my couch? I made one!

This pallet was so easy to paint… the hardest part? Picking a quote for the front of my pallet!! After that the rest was gravy.

Supplies:

One pallet! (Didn’t see that one coming did you?)

Paint in your favorite color (or whatever color you want your pallet to be!) You won’t need much I used an old quart that had maybe half a can left.

Stain in a contrasting color… I went to Michaels and bought the darkest color stain in their clearance section. You need even less stain then paint!

One large paint brush for the pallet and one small paint brush to go around the letters!

An old rag to stain your pallet with.

Letters! You can use a stencil, the old tracing paper trick, wooden letters or even large stickers! I traced my letters but go crazy… use what works for you!

Picture hanging kit!

How gorgeous is this spring home tour by Happily Ever After, Etc.?How to Paint a GIANT Pallet | Happily Ever After, Etc.

Looking for a bunch of posts on DIY & Crafts? I’ve got you covered!
Click here to see all of my how to DIY & Craft posts in one place!

I started with an average pallet… nothing fancy here! I picked one that was fairly clean with straight boards and few splinters. Daddy thought I was crazy when I told him what I was taking his pallet for (and maybe I am) but all of you are reading this so you must be crazy too!

I know a lot of people take their pallets apart and use only the front. It’s lighter and lays flatter on the wall. I wanted to use the entire pallet… back and all. I wanted a piece that was large, 3-dimensional and really read as a pallet. In order to make it just a smidge lighter I did remove several slats from the back side… I simply pried them off with a crowbar. Probably not the best method… but highly effective!

After my pallet was ready (aka I took 4 slats off the back) my next step was to stain my pallet. I knew that I wanted my letters to come through as stained and the top layer to be baby blue. Almost like the stain was peeking through little windows. So I stained the pallet only where my letters would be. I suppose I could have stained the whole pallet but you only see the stain in one section so it didn’t make a difference on my pallet.

In order to stain my pallet I took my old rag and wiped an even coat of stain into the wood. Pallets tend to “drink up” the stain… so wipe enough stain on to saturate the wood and then wipe off the excess. I wanted my stain fairly dark so several coats were necessary to achieve the rich full color I wanted. That’s alright! Just wipe on thin coats and wait for them to dry in between layers. It’s just a small section so it will dry in no time!

How to Paint a GIANT Pallet | Happily Ever After, Etc.How to Paint a GIANT Pallet | Happily Ever After, Etc.

Once the stain was dry I moved on to tracing my letters. I wanted a specific font so I printed my letters on plain computer paper and then used the old tracing trick to transfer them onto my pallet. A stencil would work just as easily! Once the letters were on the pallet (and exactly where I wanted them!) I traced over them with sharpie. This step is probably overkill but I wanted  to easily be able to see where the letters started and stopped.

The next step is to paint around your letters.  I used a small(ish) paintbrush to paint around every single letter… it definitely took me a minute! The great thing about pallets is how forgiving they are! The rough surface covers up any small imperfections in your paint job… plus the best part about a hand painted piece is the hand painted quality! After my letters were painted around I used my large paint brush to fill in the rest of the pallet… blue everywhere!

How to Paint a GIANT Pallet | Happily Ever After, Etc.

After the entire pallet had time to dry the only step left was to attach my picture hanging hardware to the back. I picked up a picture hanging kit that had two small hooks… but would hold a large heavy pallet. I screwed one on either side of my pallet and haven’t had a single problem hanging it ever since! It’s held up beautifully!

This is such an easy project to do… a bit time consuming if you are a perfectionist with your letters, but the results are well worth it! I have had so many comments since this baby was first finished!

See that Dad?

Who’s crazy now!

How to Paint a Giant Pallet with Happily Ever After, Etc
This post contains affiliate links to help with the creation of this product!

Linking up with: Tatertots & Jello & Little Red Brick House

Save

You made it through the entire post? That means you're one of my new favorite people! I'd love to be friends and see what else you would like to read about! Leave me a comment and then sign up for your very own FREE paint planner.... so that you can keep track of every single paint color with ease!
Welcome back! I'd love to be friends and see what else you would like to read about! Leave me a comment and then sign up for your very own FREE paint planner.... so that you can keep track of every single paint color with ease!

Show me some LOVE y'all:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email

Related

«
»

Before and After, DIY & Crafts, My Home, Smith Life 17

Comments

  1. Jessie says

    May 15, 2015 at 9:53 am

    I love this!! Going to pin it to find in the future.

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      May 15, 2015 at 11:32 am

      Awesome!! Thanks for stopping by Jessie!

      Reply
  2. Randi Sheets (Mrs. Sheets & Co) says

    May 15, 2015 at 10:33 am

    I love it! Great idea!

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      May 15, 2015 at 11:33 am

      Thanks Randi! You’re such a sweetheart!

      Reply
  3. Hope N. Griffin says

    May 15, 2015 at 11:50 am

    I love this so much! I am not overly crafty but this I can do. And I have a pallet in my backyard just waiting for inspiration. And I’m moving next week and have fresh walls to decorate 🙂 Thank you! Found you through #ThePeonyProject

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      May 15, 2015 at 4:57 pm

      I’m moving next week too! It sucks huh? Moving is so stressful! I’m glad you like the pallet… it’s so easy to make! If you make one for your new fresh walls make sure to send a picture! I’d love to see!

      Reply
  4. Homestead Wishing says

    May 15, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    This is so cute, I need to do this! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      May 15, 2015 at 4:58 pm

      I’m glad you like it! I have created a monster… painted pallets everywhere! Haha! I’ve seen imitation pallets for a while now… but why make an imitation when you can have the real thing?!

      Reply
  5. Justine Y @ Little Dove Creations says

    May 16, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    So cute! I love that you kept the whole pallet intact. I love the words and the colors too!

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      May 24, 2015 at 10:45 am

      I loved how it turned out with the whole pallet… mainly I just wanted it to pop off of the wall! Haha! Thanks for stopping by Justine!

      Reply
  6. Ginny says

    December 22, 2015 at 4:38 am

    It’s really amazing to see how an old pallet can be so beautiful. That’s really a nice Idea and I am going to try something out with some old pallets and some pains. Thanks for sharing.

    Ginny

    Reply
    • Happily Ever After, Etc. says

      January 12, 2016 at 7:05 pm

      Good luck Ginny! I love working with materials that I already have… the price was definitely right on this one! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Meaning Behind Happily Ever After Etc. - Happily Ever After, Etc. says:
    May 15, 2015 at 5:06 pm

    […] How to Paint a GIANT Pallet […]

    Reply
  2. May Round-Up - Happily Ever After, Etc. says:
    May 28, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    […] How to Paint a GIANT Pallet! Today we’re going back in time…. back before this blog was started… back before I met my husband… back to when I was a young single gal just renting her first apartment. I had a shoestring budget for art and home dĂ©cor… but I wasn’t going to let a little thing like money stand in my way! When I couldn’t afford a large piece of art to go over my couch? I made one… read more!     […]

    Reply
  3. Guest Room Mood Board... for Joy! - Happily Ever After, Etc. says:
    August 14, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    […] will. I was missing one for a good year in my first place… that’s why I whipped up my “& They Lived Happily Ever After” pallet! DIY is such a great medium for wall art… because it’s just so expensive! This […]

    Reply
  4. Office Reveal - Happily Ever After, Etc. says:
    April 5, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    […] ask if I wanted it just rolled it up and put it on the checkout counter (is he a gem or what?). The “& they like happily ever after” sign was hand painted by yours truly after seeing this beauty over at the Handmade Home. Lucky for […]

    Reply
  5. How to Add a Picture Hanging Kit to an Old Frame - Happily Ever After, Etc. says:
    July 7, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    […] used one to hang the pallet in my office too so they’re pretty darn […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

sidebar betsy I'm Betsy, Home Decor Enthusiast, Yorkie Mama, Crafter, Blogger, Picky Eater, Chief Mess Maker, Antique Hoarder and Graphic Designer. You can generally find me working on (attacking with a paintbrush) the 3 bed, 2 bath home we are currently renting! Our home might not be perfect but it is ours & if you hang out long enough you'll see that what we lack in know-how we make up for in passion!
Shop My Craft Room

Shop My Home

Featured Articles

15 Fabulous Ideas to Organize your Laundry Room
25 FREE Printables For Your Home!
What to do with EXTRA Paint with Happily Ever After Etc
10 Ways to Make Your Bed EXTRA Comfy with Happily Ever After Etc.
Ready to Pick your Perfect Paint Color? We'll help you with our 6 Day FREE E-Course

Hey y’all,

Profile

I'm Betsy, Home Decor Enthusiast, Yorkie Mama, Picky Eater, Chief Mess Maker, & Graphic Designer...

A Little Note!

Many of the links on Happily Ever After, Etc. are affiliate links. If you purchase a product after clicking an affiliate link, I receive a small percentage of the sale for referring you, at zero cost to you! How awesome is that? Purchasing through affiliate links is an easy, painless way to help out your favorite bloggers. Thank you so much for your continued love and support! Read the full disclosure here!

Instagram

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Darling theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Darling Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in · Privacy Policy