Pallet + Decorative Sticks = New Planter

 For the last month and half, I have been obsessed with pallets. The ones by the dumpsters of so many stores. I see them everywhere. In my mind, these dirty, splintery, and uneven wood pieces have so much potential.  After I convinced my hubbie to bring one home from work (bless his heart, he brought home four, but the smaller ones)., I looked at them for awhile. After many a night, dreaming about the pallets, I finally decided I would create a patio bench out of pallets which after working out the logistics, turns out is quite easy but never ended up doing it because I found a lounger that fits in perfectly onto our balcony.  But I still wanted to create something out of this free wood. Come on, its FREE WOOD! After sitting on the pallets for a few more weeks, I set out to create a planter to get my pallet fix without taking on too big of a project. In my case, the planter was going to hold the decorative sticks that were stashed inside the eyesore of a black planter that Ive had  for 5 years, sitting in the corner of the living room. My hubbie sanded the beauty down while my son supervised.

You can see the black planter with sticks in the background. After a lot of sanding, I painted it, using a Glidden semi-gloss white paint (although a high gloss paint would have looked even better).  I filled the holes for the nails with wood filler, let it dry, sanded it down and repainted these areas for a somewhat smooth finish. Then added these hardwood stubs which I painted with acrylic paint, metallic silver and used NO-MORE-NAILS glue to attach them to the sides like little studs. 

We arranged the decorative sticks in the two slots and Voila, I had a new planter. 

I put the old planter in our storage and placed the new planter in front of a bare wall. I never knew what to do with this wall and now it fits perfectly into this nook. 

Also when the weather warms up a bit, I’ll try it it out on my balcony in between the railing and the lounger for a little privacy on summer nights.   I love this look, its so barnyard meets downtown. I adore upcycling now!

How about you? Have you indulged in any DIY pallet craft or any upcycling of your own?