the space between

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easy diy pallet word art

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Here are a few easy DIY pallet word art ideas for you.

First I have to start out by saying that the outpouring of love and support that we have received in response to our 10 year old puppy going through surgery (more on that here) has been so overwhelming, in the best of ways. All of the private emails and messages in addition to the comments, and those who have shared your own pet stories … you will never know how much it has helped us through this. Us pet owners and lovers, we’re a special breed. 😉

word-art

Pry 4 slats off a pallet and cut each slat in thirds, not worrying about perfect measuring because I knew I was going to stagger them a bit.
word-art

I had one long pallet slat and another piece that had split that worked perfect to attach all of my slats together from the back for this project.

And I finally got to use some of my swag and winnings from the Haven Conference.
After a quick coat of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and a little sanding, I used a regular ol’ mixing bowl to trace a semi-circle for the center of my sun.
word-artI then used another swag bag item, the Frog Tape, to identify the lines for the rays of the sun.
word-artNote:  After I took this picture I decided the circle was too close to the center of the piece for my liking so I retraced the circle closer to the right side and adjusted the tape lines accordingly. 

The inspiration piece had some great colors in it, but you might remember, I am trying to get rid of the red. 🙂  So I went with more of a green and yellow pallet. More on that in a minute.

Tip!!!  Start with your base color and after you’ve painted a couple of rays, lighten it with white. Repeat the process until all of the rays are painted, then you don’t have to worry about mixing too much or little of a color.
Use a small brush along the traced line for the edge of the circle of the sun.
word-artThen just peel off the tape to expose the white painted lines between each ray. And use a smaller bowl to create an inner circle to paint the color of your choice.
Now seems like a good time to point out that I had completed the entire project and post before deciding the yellow and green was a bit too lemon-limey for me so I updated the piece with shades of aqua, turquoise and blue over the yellow rays. More on that in a minute.  😉
word-artThis next pic is still just yellow and green … when I was trying to figure out the hard part … the wording.
word-art

I came across a quote by J.R.R. Tolkien that said “Not all those who wander are lost” and I fell in love. 🙂

See, Joel and I, we’re wanderers of sorts. Drifters. Nomads. Maybe even gypsies.

But we are definitely not lost. 🙂

For some reason, the word “those” made the quote a little tongue twistery for me, so I took it out, and ended up with this.
word-art

I used the same technique that I used for the number art to create the wording. The fonts came right out of Word and are Bernard MT Condensed and Lucida Handwriting for the word ‘wander’ and ‘lost’.

What do you think? I love her. I love the sentiment. I love the symbolism. I love the message. 🙂

Here’s the inspiration project by Inspired by Charm, pretty beautiful too, I say.
And here is what I came up with from the inspiration. Version #1. (Oh, yes, I had taken, uploaded and edited all the pics before I decided on the new hues) #efficiencyismymiddlename

And our new pallet word art.
word-art

I love how the different shades of yellow peek through the new blues.
word-art

I love that it has many of the same colors from the beach pictures from Friday … don’t you think, Shirley? 🙂

word-art

I’m glad that I started by painting the whole piece white, and that my however incidental completely intentional layering of colors creates depth after the sanding.

Soooo, what do you think? Are you a wanderer? Are you lost? Are you consumed by wunderlust? Or, maybe deep-rooted in your current space?

And, if you’d like to see the beach pics from our island home of Curacao they are here, details on how I create the font like lettering is here, and another, entirely different, piece of pallet word art is here. (I also profess my YHL crush in that post.) Wait … what?!?! She says as she looks around confused.

Comments

  1. Karah….this pallet art is fantastic….I so love it…I love the colors you chose…and thanks for the great tutorial…I pinned your project as I want to copy cat it….One of my hubby’s favorite t-shirts has that quote…he loves it…you know, one of those “Life is Good” shirts….We are “rooted” in our home, however, we both have “wanderlust”…always searching for a new destination to explore!…

  3. Shut the front door!!! I am in love! The quote, the colors, the pallet use??? You are a genius!

  4. Karah, this is amazing! So pretty and uplifting! I love the colors you used and I like this better than the original! I’m definitely pinning this!

  6. You post the BEST tutorials! I saw a quote I loved yesterday by Albert Einstein: “Anyone who hasn’t made a mistake hasn’t tried anything new”. Think I’ll go find me a pallet!
    Jaye

  10. Karah, I love this project…I tweeted it and pinned it! 😀

  11. This looks amazing, Karah! I love the scale of this art and you definitely bumped it up by tweaking the colours at the end! I can’t wait to see the space that this will inhabit 🙂

  12. Awesome billboard!! Love it and your choice of quote, too. So glad your pup is doing well.

    xox

  13. I love this! I was a wander but now I’ve put down roots that are so deep on this farm that I’m not going anywhere.

  14. Karah, I love this!! It looks so good up on your roof! I swear we’re on some type of weird wavelength…we’re currently working on a project involving wood and wood art. Guess great minds think alike!! 🙂

    p.s. I never knew how to pronounce Curacao until last night!

  16. Your pinnartistry {pinning + artistry} is awesome. Your projects always feel so original even when you “borrow” some inspiration … you really know how to make a piece your own. I really love your pallet art piece.

    Robin
    happilyhomeafter.blogpsot.com

  17. I ADORE your pallet art! It’s absolutely perfect, right down to the modified quote and the totally (un)intentional layering of paint 🙂 The addition of turquoise really puts it over the edge from brilliant to stupendous! Can you tell that I love it? 🙂 Great job!

  18. Karah,

    Just beautiful! As always I love your pallet projects … and I especially love this Tolkien quote (yea, I’m a bit of a Tolkien geek … though not as bad as I’m a J.K. Rowling geek).

    🙂

    Linda

  19. This is so good. I actually like yours better than the inspiration pin. The colors are gorgeous and the quote is just perfect 🙂

  20. Karah,
    This is awesome!! The sunny graphic (literally) and the message are both wonderful!!!! You executed it perfectly =)

    It’s so YOU!

    PS-if you are indeed lost, you sure picked a great place to do it!!

  23. First – your sign is flawless. I love, love, love the color choices and the quote!! And it made it from pallets!! Amazing!

    Second – I am beyond appreciative for the amazing shout out and completely humbled that I inspired you! Thank you so, so much!!

  25. So cool! I love the quote and how you sanded the paint down to make it look worn. It’s fabulous =)

  27. SO lovely!! And, I adore that quote. Remember MySpace?? (Is that still around??). This quote was my profile quote. Ha. Oh myspace. blast from the past.

    Anyway, super love and I’ve pinned and google shared!!

  28. That is so gorgeous! You have some serious talent! I doubt I could have thought it up, much less pulled it off so beautifully!

  29. This is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first I thought it was a GIANT wall!! (Because of the angle of the photo)! I LOVE it!!

    Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer.. From Dream To Reality! 🙂

  30. Awesome work! I agree, I gotta actually starting doing some of the projects I keep seeing ! nice job 🙂
    JoAnn
    sweetpepperrose.blogspot.com

  32. I think I may have to try this one…get the pallet out from behind the shed …(remember the one hubby tried to burn)! I want to make one for my outside area…when I do I’ll post a pic…

    Sending Mico love!!!

  33. I absolutely love this. I have a huge case of wanderlust and the quote is perfect. I also like how you added in the blues. I wasn’t a big fan of just the green and yellow and the blues added depth to it. You did a great job on this. I am a new follower via bloglovin.

  35. Very KEWL.

    I stopped by to see if I could find out what’s up with this month’s Mission Possible Challenge. I was distracted by your wonderful, new sign and great choice of quotes. Now back to my hunt for the color thing… Although this sign seems like it might relate.

  39. Love this project, Karah! So glad I’m not the only one that shifts things in mid-stream and has cluttered workspace! lol!
    I think that quote is perfect for you. 🙂
    xo Heidi

  40. I love word art. It’s so great.

    What a fun project. I am so very glad you shared it on Show and Tell Wednesday! Thank you.

    xoxo, Tauni

  43. you are TRULY a creative GENIUS!!!!!! mwaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! how’s our little patient : ) sending hugs

  44. It is really, really beautiful Karah. Fantastic idea and perfectly executed. 🙂

  45. I love the use of cool colors for your sunburst! Also the addition of the aqua was a great choice… the quote… perfect! Ya done good… again. 🙂

  46. I LOVE it!
    On a completely different note, I’ve been catching up on The Bachelorette after 2 weeks vacation and saw that last week’s episode was filmed on your island. Was there a big hoopla about it or was it just passe?

  48. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!! Just showed this to my husband who is usually pretty uninterested in these things, but he said, “That’s pretty bad @**”! Which means it really is 🙂 I’ll definitely be following along with you now! I would love if you would come share this at my link party next Thursday {it’s currently open to old posts only, but next week I’m going to change it to old and new, it’s my first one and I’m already changing my mind!} if you happen to remember. Thanks so much for sharing!

  49. I love it! I love the paint shades you used. It looks awesome!

  51. Love this project, Karah! The colors are so bright and happy – and the saying is just perfect! Great job! 🙂

    xoxo laurie

  52. Karah, this looks great. Love the colors and layers showing. Thanks for sharing this at Wow.

  54. This is so beautiful! I would love to feature this on Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle. Feel free to stop by and grab a featured button. Thanks!

  56. This is beautiful! I also love how the colors have blended. It’s perfect for a beach house! I have access to a bunch of pallets just outside my husband’s office. I have lots of ideas but have yet to start any projects. Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings,
    Carrie

  59. Oh my! Is this fabulous, just love it!!! I pinned it so it’s gone full circle 🙂

  62. OMGoodness…this is one neat idea!!! Thanks for sharing it with all of us…love the colors that you used.

    Blessings,
    Linda

  63. This project is seriously so, so, so awesome!!!

    Great job!
    –Katie

  65. freaking out with joy! absolutely love this! amazing! make more and sell them! xoxo

  67. I’m pretty rooted to my space most of the time, but do love vacationing. You did a fantastic job! It’s gorgeous, Karah!

  69. A long time since the originally palette post, however I could not pass without acknowledging this tutorial will be my are word inspiration!! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂

    • Thank you so much for letting me know, Monique! Have fun with your project!

  70. I just finished this project as a gift for my daughter. It fits her personality perfectly! I followed your instructions and word art tips but changed the color scheme a little. I used sample paints I had on the shelf. I love it. Wanted to post a picture of the finished project but don’t see a place to upload it here. Thanks for the wonderful instructions and inspiration!

    • I’m so glad to hear this, Melanie! I would love to see it. You could email me the pic (karah.thespacebetweenblog@gmail.com) and I’ll share it on the blog FB page. I look forward to seeing it, I hope your daughter loves it! ps. the perfect use for left over sample paints 🙂

  71. I love this, I just wish people would give Tolkien credit when they use this quote.

Trackbacks

  3. […] Karah from The Space Between loves word art because of the sentiment and symbolism behind it. Therefore, it was no wonder she was inspired to turn some grayed pallet wood into an inspiring work of art.  […]