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Monday, June 23, 2014

DIY Rustic Pallet Frames

As you may or may not know, I am knee deep in a garage, mudroom and kitchen addition.  Each week we've had a few deliveries, which all resulted in pallets full of material being delivered to the house.  Pallets that cost $15.00 a piece.  I used 2 of them to make a workbench/bar and was determined to use another pallet for another project, frames.

Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
I started out by using the circular saw to cut the pallet apart.   I planned on stacking four boards horizontally, so I cut enough pieces to make two frames.  I didn't worry so much about making them even, I just wanted to get the pallet apart.  I later used a chop saw to cut them all to the same length.  I also cut a scrap piece of lauan to use as the support for the back of my frame.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
I used regular wood glue to glue the pallet boards to the lauan.   Once I got all my boards lined up I grabbed a bag of fertilizer (it was the closest and heaviest thing outside) and set it on top to dry over night.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four

Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
 Then I applied a coat of my favorite Minwax Jacobean stain and one coat of poly.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
I ended up reinforcing the back with a few nails just in case the wood didn't hold well enough.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
Now, was the fun part.  I recently used sheet metal to make West Elm Inspired bin pulls for a HomeGoods table makeover and knew I wanted to use it again for the frames.   I free handed a shape and cut out 8 pieces to use on the corners of each frame.  
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
Once I had all the holes drilled for the nails I spray painted the sheet metal with ORB spray paint.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four
Instead of using glass, I picked up two 8x10 pieces of plexiglass from Home Depot.  Then attached each picture to the frames using nails.
Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four

Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four

Turn old pallets into the perfect rustic picture frames! - Little House of Four


Not bad for using pallet wood and $7.00 worth of plexiglass.  I'm thinking of doing one more pallet project for Paige's room, so stay tuned...

Would you like to comment?

  1. These frames are super cute! Love that they are made from a pallet! Thanks for sharing with us at Your Designs This Time!

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    1. We are featuring your awesome project tomorrow at Your Designs This Time!
      Emily & Erin

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    2. Love this project Katie! What gauge metal did you use and what are the corner measurements? I want to make a frame for my daughter <3
      -Stephanie C

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  2. These are so creative! I love the use of the sheet metal! Thanks for linking up at the DIY'ers with us!

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  3. Stopping by from Skip The Housework link party. I love the rustic look. What did you use to cut the sheet metal? Not sure I'm crafty enough to handle that task.

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Kat! I just used metal snips to cut the metal. It was pretty easy, but be careful since the metal is sharp (I used a metal file to smooth out the rough edges). They don't have to be perfect. You can totally do it!

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  4. These are so cute! I need to start picking up those pallets when I see them. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

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    1. Thanks Nikki! Yes, don't pass those pallets up when you see them! There are so many great uses for the wood.

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  5. I love these frames! They look amazing! :)

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  6. Those picture frames look amazing! The palette really made it look authentic, and the sheets really gave it a nice accent. This is a really nice way to make use of those old palettes and sheet metals. Anyway, thanks for sharing this with us. All the best!


    Rosemary Bailey @ WabiCorpCa

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  7. I love the picture frames that you made! They look so adorable. Spray painting the metal pieces was a great idea. That way, you could easily cover up the faded or slightly rust parts of the metal, and also slow down the rusting process. Anyway, thanks for sharing this with us. Have a great day!


    Bernice Parsons @ Badger Anodising

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  8. Not only that you were able to be eco-friendly by recycling those pallets and metal sheet, you were also able to create such wonderful frames for your photos. It would have been expensive to buy designer frames similar to that, and I bet you won’t find those nice metal sheet accents for frames on any store either. So, thanks for sharing this DIY with us, Katie!


    Brandi Bradley @ Rotax Metals

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  9. This is such a great idea! I love how they turned out!

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  10. I use pallets all the time but never thought of making my own corners. Loving it!

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  11. wow this would be fun, picture frames is very cool and really very easy :)

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  12. Loving these but how do you change the pics once the corners are in place?

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  13. Those look great. How did you use/cut the plexi?

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  14. Love this picture frame. I just shared this project on my blog, Recharge Workshop. You can see it in this post here: http://rechargeworkshop.com/4-pallet-friday-metal-wood/

    I've been following you on Instagram for a while and now that I know you've got so many great DIY projects, I'll definitely be sharing them with my audience more often. Thanks for the great projects and have a great day!

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