Cherry Blossom Pallet Project

 

My father-in-law is a farmer and since we are coming in to spring, he has a ton of wooden pallets just stacked next to the grain silos.  Usually he just breaks them apart and gets rid of them.  He says that pallets are made of the worst wood and he is truly surprised that “pallet projects” is trending on Pinterest (Yes, I had to explain Pinterest to my father-in-law, the farmer).

While we were at the farm a few weeks ago, I had my husband load two of them in the truck and haul them home. I had so many ideas of how I would re-purpose them.  Instead of making something functional, I created art.  I’m not really an “artsy” person.  Creative, yes, but not artsy.  The inspiration for this project is Cherry Blossoms!

 

It is Cherry Blossom season here in the Washington DC area.  The National Cherry Blossom Festival begins on March 20^th and runs through April 17^th.  If you have not seen the Cherry Blossoms in person, it is definitely something to add to your bucket list.  Taking a stroll around the Tidal Basin among beautiful pink, flowering trees with the monuments in the background is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  There are so many things to do throughout the month-long event such as the Cherry Blossom parade, the kite festival and the Japanese street festival.  If you are a runner, there is also a Cherry Blossom 10 mile race that is so popular; you have to win a lottery just to register.  I was lucky enough to run this race back in 2011 and it really was an amazing experience.

On to the pallet project:

I started by deconstructing the pallet.  I tried pulling the nails out, but realized it was soooo much easier to use a Sawzall.  That thing cut right through those nails and it really didn’t take much effort on my part.  I sanded some of the edges of the pallet pieces since some were very rough and I didn’t want to get a splinter.

 

Once I had a stack of wood, I placed nine boards next to each other and painted them with a coat of watered down Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White.  I used acrylic paint and a variety of brushes and sponges to create the tree.

 

That was it!  Super simple art project that looks lovely.

Until next time!

Allison