ReUse... pallets!

One of my top favorite things to do is to use reclaimed materials. And the best way I have found to do this is with used pallets. Now, they are a PAIN to work with and take a lot of time to cut or disassemble, but in the end you can end up with a very inexpensive shelf or piece of furniture. Really the only costs that go into working with pallet wood are the cost of your blades (cause they really eat up blades),  screws or nails, plus any finishing materials like sandpaper plus paint or stain. Here are a few examples of things that I have made on the cheap with pallet wood!

Below are examples of a few different variations of shelves and some different uses.

 Here is a bench that sits at the end of our drive. Perfect for waiting on the bus.

 Below is a pallet crate.

I've used these in the past as a book shelf hung on the wall and also as a crate to hold fire wood.

I love this planter box!

And here are two simple little bird houses made using only scrap wood.  

Thanks for looking! Feel free to pin. ;) And as always, search keyword "pallet" on Ana-White.com for more great ideas!



Rack em up!

So while I am working on a VERY BIG PROJECT (really, it is THAT big so stay tuned!!), I'll make a post about the billiards rack I made for my husband for our 8th wedding anniversary.

We had partly DIY'd a pool table a few month prior (but that's a future post) so I thought this little guy would make a nice gift. I used all scrap pine with a few full sized 1x4's. I did not use any stain or sealer on this because I wanted to leave that choice up to my husband and so far it is still unfinished.

I find myself using random circular objects to aide in circle making. No shame... this one came fresh off my compost pail.

No photo of this but the next step is to use a hole saw to cut the openings for your cue sticks. The bottom of the cue stick shelves are notched out just the same as for the balls (described below).

Originally I wanted to put two drawers in the bottom center but I quickly realized that in order to do so I would have needed two things 1) more time and 2) a budget that exceeded $0 so that I could have used 1x6's for the framework.

Keep in mind, I had no plan and this was a total fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project. PLUS was done in about 2 days, during my babies 1 hour nap time. I did the cutting/sanding all on day one then hid it all in places my husband would not find. Then day two was assembly day. It was a great surprise.

Holy Table!

My mom and I talked off and on for over a year before we finally got around to build her new dining table. Sadly, the family table she had owned for over 30 years just was not able to be repaired again. So we went ahead and designed one that could fit all of her 9 grandkids plus a few adults. This bad boy is a full TEN FEET LONG! It's a few months into its life now and is holding up quite well to the child abuse it see's.  

**I have now finished a full blog post on the building of this table! Check it out!**

Trash or Treasure?

As promised, I'm back! Today's post is about taking a nasty thrift store piece of furniture and breathing new life into it. We had purchased a new, very large, television and had to upgrade from our old armoire. We hit the nearest thrift store and what do you know, it was 50% off furniture day! AND they had the perfect (and dirty) dresser that could be easily turned into a TV Stand. So for $30 plus the cost of a little sand paper and white paint, I give you this!

It holds so much! And inside the center doors are three drawers that work perfectly for all of our DVD's and gaming gear. On the left side I store my photos and albums and the right side are for all the kids coloring books and games. It's perfect for our needs. Proving you can take trash to treasure (although I did get lucky with find this as fast as I did)!

What a year!

Well it took me a while to admit it, but, I have a bad back. I went MONTHS ignoring it, months stretching it, then had an MRI that revealed my crappy discs and one that had so graciously herniated all over my nerves. Weeks of therapy and injections lead to nothing. So in Mid-February of this year I finally had surgery, a laminectomy and discetomy. I am 7 weeks post op on and technically I still have at least 5 more weeks before the doctor would want me to build, but I just can't wait to get back into projects. I have done quite a bit over the last year that I would love to share here. So look for much more project posts and new stuff SOON!