DIY Tutorials - The Idea Room

DIY Pallet Headboard

So…I promised this DIY Headboard Pallet Tutorial that we made for my son’s room, several weeks ago…oopsie. I don’t know what took me so long to finally share this…but nevertheless…here it is for those of you who are interested.

I decided to build the headboard after seeing my friend Char from Crap I’ve Made’s pallet headboard for her daughter’s room.

This is one of the simpler projects we have made. The hardest part is getting those darn pallets boards off the frame. Those nail/screws are brutal. We pried a few off and then just ended up chopping the boards off of the pallet with a chop saw…so much easier!

Some people have raised concerns about possible chemicals in pallets. If this concerns you, simply use other boards. You can also google how to make new wood look old.

Here is what you will need to make your own Pallet Headboard:

Materials and Sizes:

2 – 2X6 48 inches in length

1 – 2X4 61 inches in length

1 – 2X4 50 inches in length

2 – ½ inch plywood pieces 10X22 inches

Enough 40 inch long pallet boards to make a width of 61 ½ inches

We made the frame by placing the 61 inch 2×4 piece at the top and 2×6 pieces on each edge of the 2×4.

We then placed the bottom of the 50 inch 2×4 28 inches from floor end of the 2x6s.

Then you will need the plywood pieces to provide support to the connections of all the pieces (we inset the plywood ½ inch from the top and side to make the piece hidden from view on the completed head board).

Flip the frame over and lay out the pallet boards on the frame (we had the top and sides over lap the frame by ¼ inch).

Use wood glue and a staple or nail gun to adhere the boards to the frame. Stain and varnish completed the finish.

boys-room 9

We drilled holes (aligned with the bed frame) in the bottom of the 2×6 posts of the headboard and then bolted the bed frame securely in place.

Boys-room-ideas

That’s really all there is to it. Such an easy project and it has been perfect in my son’s room. To see the entire room reveal you can go here: Boy’s Room Reveal. We also made a fun Pallet Map for my son’s room. You can see that here: Wood Pallet Map.

Wood Pallet Map Tutorial

48 Comments

Several of you requested the tutorial for the wood pallet map we made for my son’s room that I shared with you the other day. This was a super simple project and cost literally nothing for us other than the cost of the map. You can’t beat that now can you?

wood-pallet-map

First of all we picked up some pallets for FREE at our local nursery. They will allow you to take up to 8 pallets before they charge. Score!

Then comes the tough part. These pallets have some serious nails holding them together. It takes some serious muscle strength to get these planks off. We ended up cutting off the two ends right up to the nails and then just pulling out the middle nails.

Then I took a heavy duty file and sanded down the edges and the rough spots of each plank.

Make sure you have enough pallets to have a bit of overhang on the map so you can see your pallet wood. It gives it an antiqued look. You can cut your map down a bit so that it fits better too, which is what we did.

We connected the pallet planks together with a piece of plywood on the back and then glued them into place with Gorilla Wood Glue (my favorite wood glue).

We found our map on Amazon for a $1! They had a few different styles and we went for a more Old World look.

Trim around the edges in a non-patterned way to give it a more worn look without crisp clean edges.

Then take a candle and burn the map around the edges. We did this outside and had a pitcher of water on hand….just in case.

We burnt the map all around the edges and then even burnt some holes in the middle of the map in some of the less prominent areas on the map.

Lay your map onto the wood pallets. This next part you will need and Exact-o Knife to cut the map into long strips. Now I debated about cutting the map, but I wanted the individual wood planks to show through and give some detail to the map. I was worried that if I just Mod Podged the map without cutting it, it would just be a flat map.

I am SO glad I decided to cut the map. It added so much more detail and un-perfectness to the overall look.

We recruited the kids to help us hold the map into place while we cut it. We did not want it to move at all and mess up the cut.

We cut the map one section at a time. When we had a new strip, we Mod Podged it onto the individual plank.

We purposely left a small space between each plank.

After all the strips were glued onto the pallets, we let it dry completely. Then we put two coats of polyurethane in a satin finish on the map to keep it nice and protected.

I LOVE it! And so does my son! He wants to pin the places he has been to on this map as well. What do you think?

boys-room-decor

I was inspired to make this map when I came across this image (below) on Pinterest. I searched all over to find the original source of the map so I could link back and give credit to who made this and I could not for the life of me find out where it is from.

My search led me to believe that it may have been sold at Hobby Lobby a while ago. If anyone knows where I can find the original site for this I would love to know so I can give them credit and a link!

February 20, 2013 · Filed under: Boys, DIY Tutorials, Home Decor, Home Remodeling, Tutorials Tagged with boys room decor, map decor, pallet art, pallet projects, what to make with pallets, wood map, wood pallet map

Homemade Lavender Soap

8 Comments

Did you know that this coming Sunday, Feb. 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day? Well, it is. And I am joining with Michael’s and participating in their week long “Craft It Forward Random Acts of Kindness Week! I was lucky enough to be able to get to know many of the Crafty Geniuses who work at the Michael’s headquarters this past summer. And so I was really excited to work with them again on this fun campaign.

I decided that I wanted to make some Homemade Lavender Soap that I could then give away to friends and family as my “Craft it Forward” project. I also wanted to do something that my girls could also help with. I wanted them to be able to make their own soaps that they too could share with their friends!

Now, can you believe that with all my crafting projects that I have NEVER made or played with soap? I know! I have always LOVED pretty “handmade” soaps and I guess I thought it was a lot more involved than they really were. I know there are some people who make handmade soaps completely from scratch and in another life, I would love to be able to try that.

But, for now, I took the super easy road. And I can’t believe how easy this simple method was. I talked with my local Michael’s and got some really great tips and advice and learned how to make some really simple but beautiful soap. Today I will share with you the basics so that you can make some for yourself. Now…I am no expert, but this is how I made these Homemade Lavender Soaps.

You will need the following:

A premade soap base (I chose Goat’s Milk Soap)

Scent (I went with my doTerra Lavendar oil but Michael’s has several yummy scents)

A Soap Colorant (I did not use any in this particular soap but did in other soaps I will share later this week)

Rubbing Alcohol

Spray Bottle for the alcohol

Soap Mold

Bowl for melted soap

Spoon

Directions:

Break up your soap base into smaller chunks and place into bowl.

Melt in your microwave on 40 second intervals until the soap is fully melted.

Add your soap colorant and scent and stir well.

Pour your soap into your mold. I used molds that I found at Michaels that were soft and flexible so I did not need to do anything special to the mold. If you are using a bread pan or a non-flexible mold you may want to spray a little bit of cooking spray to help the soap ease out of the mold when it has hardened.

Spritz the top of the soap with your Rubbing Alcohol to remove any air bubbles from your soap.

If you are adding different soap layers, (like I do in some soaps I am sharing later) you can let the first layer harden and then spritz it again and pour an additional layer of soap on top. Depending on the number of layers, you can repeat this process over and over. Allowing sufficient drying time depending on how solid you want your soap layers to be.

Remove from molds and wrap up pretty.

*If your soap becomes too thick to pour nicely into your mold you can quickly re-melt it again in your microwave.

I was surprised at how easy it was to whip up a batch of yummy smelling soap. And the fun part was using that same basic method and coming up with a lot of fun varieties of soap.

And, with some simple wrapping and embellishment you can come up with a very nice and inexpensive gift that someone would love to receive. Don’t you think?

I simply took some burlap, which I also found at Michael’s, that I trimmed down to wrap around each bar of Lavender Soap.

Then added a couple of dried sprigs of Lavender. You can also find Lavender at Michaels.

I had so much fun making Lavender soap, that I began experimenting. The girls also joined in and made some of their own soaps. Be sure to come back in a couple of days and I will share those with you and also pictures of my girls crafting them forward.

Michaels is participating in Random Acts of Kindness Week, Feb. 11-17, by asking customers to share their own random acts of kindness on the Michaels Facebook page and to use the hashtag #RAOKDIY when sharing on Twitter and Instagram.

In celebration of the holiday on Sunday, Feb. 17, Michaels hopes to inspire customers to participate by giving away more than $100,000 in gift cards at its nearly 1,100 U.S. and Canada stores. Gift card recipients will be encouraged to “craft it forward” and exhibit their own random act of kindness towards another person.

Customers who want to “craft it forward” can find inspiration for Random Acts of Kindness projects to give to others on the Michaels Random Acts of Crafting Pinterest board.