That will make more sense once I explain!
Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip contacted me recently and invited me to participate in the monthly DIY Challenge she hosts. This month we had to make something for fall decor out of scrap wood we had laying around.
Easy, right?
Maybe.
Especially if you have a lot of scrap wood laying around. Like I sometimes do.
But what if you were supposed to move recently and got rid of most of your scrap wood so you didn’t have to cart it all to the new house?
Yup, that would be me. Still, I knew I could probably scrape up something from the bits I had left over from my Powder Room makeover. You see, I put board and batten in there and I knew I had some leftover mdf pieces laying around my garage.
Now what to make for fall….hmmm….
I started by cutting 5 pieces in a variety of lengths. One each at 27″, 19″, 17″, 15″, & 14″. Then I painted both sides and all edges with Sherwin Williams Alabaster. Two coats on each surface.
I grabbed a handful of jars of Waverly chalk paint in a variety of colors and put little dabs of paint on my cardboard that’s protecting my dining room table. I took my paintbrush and just got a little paint from several of the colors on my brush at the same time and then brushed it across the boards. The colors blend as you paint it across the surface. Just keep adding colors until you get the look you like.
I specifically made each board look different.
I put Frog Tape on the finished face of the boards….
…and touched up the paint along the edges from where the chalk painted on the fronts had messed up the edges. Can’t allow that! ๐
Next I grabbed a 1×4 pine board I had laying around that was around 3 feet long. I did just a light whitewash with my Sherwin Williams Alabaster paint to allow the wood grain to still show thru.
After coming up with some of my favorite fall activities and printing them in different fonts on my printer, I chose a different word (s) for each board depending on length. Perfect!
I’m not artistic enough to be able to hand letter completely freehand so this is a very easy way to get an outline of lettering that you can then paint or trace with a Sharpie.
Simply color over the paper on the back side of the lettering.
Flip your paper over and place it on your wood in the position you want it. I use some Frog Tape to hold it securely in place for me. Then using your pencil trace over the letters. It will create a light outline for you to use for your desired technique.
Once all your lettering is done (I did mine with a Sharpie for this project) line up your boards in the order you want them to appear for the look you like to randomize the lengths of wood.
This was how I decided I would make mine.
I marked the exact center of each board with a piece of Frog Tape so it would be easy to center on my 1×4.
I used Liquid Nails to fasten the horizontal boards to my 1×4. I marked the center of the 1×4 where I was going to place each board and then lined it up with the Frog Tape. I decided to leave a little space between each board.
And here is the finished product! I didn’t buy a single thing for this – it was made from scrap wood and leftover paint. I styled it in the corner of my Dining Room for now but I suspect at some point I will also have it outside my front door.
I plan to coat it with several coats of spray varnish before I put it outside to make sure it holds up to the weather. My porch is covered but I don’t want any moisture to affect the mdf specifically. I’m not quite ready to decorate outside for fall yet since we are still in the midst of such hot summer weather but I’m loving this in my Dining Room.
You could easily put a picture hanger on the back and hang this on a wall as well.
The Other Participants
Just click the Link Party button below to see all the other bloggers projects!
You can follow me on Pinterest and Instagram for even more ideas and great product deals. Follow my blog with Bloglovin
