A Little Pallet Wood Geometry

It's been a while since I made one of these Pinterest images. 

I really should do that more often.

Usually it's good for me to actually take some pics of the latest batch of

pallet wood art I take over to Twigs and Twine.

So this time I'm super proud of myself.

I even made you a diagram of my cut lines.

{J} over at Twigs and Twine asked me to make up some

Geometric designs with my pallet wood.

Since I'm always trying to think up ways to use my scraps,

these perfectly fit the bill.

I'm super obsessed with chevrons and it shows in

these latest pieces.

I also took the minimalist approach... ie. I'm super math challenged.

If you asked me to do some math in my head, my brain turns to mush.

So for these I just laid some slats out and added and cut pieces as I went along.

One epic fail though,  I didn't glue down the pieces before moving them.

The one with the small squares had some pieces fall off when I tried

to bring it in the house to paint.

UGGHHH!!!

After much re-arrainging, pleading with the pieces to fit again, and maybe a few tears,

I resorted to cutting new pieces to make them fit.

I ended up with 1 extra piece and two new ones.

Go figure.

My process takes me from the backyard, to the patio, kitchen island, and garage.

Usually all 4 locations before a piece is done.  Sometimes only 2.

All that moving around can be a problem, especially with the 3x3 ft size.

It doesn't exactly fit in my door frame.

But with a little tipping and re-arrainging it worked. 

So here's a bit of the how to:

First I needed a backing for the pieces of pallet wood.

I'm cheap so I looked for some ultra thin plywood and found a sheet that was $13 at Lowes.

I took in my diagram and had them cut it apart for me.

Also, if I'm going to make one, I'm going to make 2.

Not sure why that is but I do that all the time.

So they stacked two sheets of plywood and cut them all at the same time.

Quick and efficient and saved me a ton of time!

Once it was done, then to decide on the design of the pieces.

The 1x3's got turned in to some short squaty arrows like these.

So loving the arrows right now!

Chevrons definitely.

Simple.  Of course!

Remember... Math Challenged!

Then it was a big game of tetris.

Love it.

Lay it out, mark and cut if needed.

Easy.

I would recommend cutting all pieces to match the backing.

I didn't on this one and had to skill saw the edges when it was done.

Save time.

Cut once.

After that, I took each piece out individually and sanded it.

Then painted a few.

Swiped on some Cider Vinegar/Steel wool mix to a few and let it dry in the sun.

Seconds in this blasted Arizona Sun!

After that I took them to the garage and laid them out.

Each piece got a healthy application of Gorilla Glue and put back in place.

Then I found any heavy thing I could find to press the pieces

down while they dried.

My son's dumbells.

A full 2 liter of water.

Some horseshoes.

A dutch oven.

I'm grasping a straws here, but really what ever you have will work.

I let them dry overnight, and checked them in the morning.

All locked on tight!

Lastly a little hanging hardware and I'm done.

The 3x3 ft pieces got some D-rings,

the 2x2's got some screws and wire like my other projects.

Since they are huge, I just set them on the floor for pictures.

Enjoy!

 I love the texture of the different kinds of pallet slats, plus the simple designs.
They were super fun to put together.
A girl... some pallet wood... a miter saw... and some paint.  
A perfect combination!