DomestiKated101: DIY Pallet Map of the USA!

I've been dying to try a pallet project for months ever since I saw this cool USA art piece from World Market. The thing was so cool but $90?! No. Freakin'. Way.

I could SO make that.

And I did, but OH MY! Warning for all you pallet project newbies: no one tells you how hard it is to disassemble a pallet!

But it's absolutely worth it.

Ready? Go change into work-out gear and LET'S GO!

You will need:

- 1 Wooden Pallet, disassembled

- Handsaw (as pictured above)

- Crow bar or an electric Sawzall (recommended!)

- 3/4-inch nails

- 2 Large mounting brackets

- Hammer

- Medium grade sandpaper

- Paint (of your choice)

- Solid Paint Stick/Pen

- 1 Spray can clear matte enamel

- 1/4-inch x 2-foot poplar wood strips (from Lowe's)

- THIS United States template

1. Print, cut out and assemble the United States template.

2. Disassemble the pallet! I'm so sorry I don't have any pictures of this process but it was an effort of trial and error & I completely forgot to take pictures! You have 2 options:

a. Use a hammer and crowbar. Wedge the crowbar between the top boards and the support boards to separate the nails. This is HARD but you get to keep the pretty nail holes.

b. Cut that sucker with a Sawzall! After SEVERAL hours of pulling apart pallets with a crowbar, my wonderful friend brought over her hubby's Sawzall. O.M.G. Time and back saver! Run the Sawzall between the top and support boards, evenly cutting the nails that hold it all together. Best part, you get to keep the rusty nail heads!

Ok, now that you have your pallet boards, we may continue.

3. Select your size! For this project, the entire thing is 3-feet by 2-feet...ish. At this point you'll also select which boards you want facing forwards.

4. Nail it together. Flip everything over and align as evenly (or not evenly!) as possible. Take your 2' x 1/2" poplar wood boards and nail it to the back, see photo below.

5. Put on hard wear. Nail in a top support brace and mounting brackets. The top support brace is just one poplar board cut in half (use the hand saw).

When putting on the brackets measure out the space between studs on the wall in which you intend to hang it (you will need a stud-finder). Building codes require studs be between 16" to 24" apart, so every house is different and you have to measure!

This sucker is HEAVY so you have to mount it into studs and not straight drywall. It's also why I chose brackets instead of wire: because it's so heavy, having 2 brackets distributes the weight evenly on the nails in the wall.

6. Sand. Flip it back over and look! So pretty! Using your medium grade sandpaper, lightly sand off the rough surface and round off all the edges. Make sure not to sand so much that you get rid of all the cool natural distressed look.

7. Trace out the USA. Lay out the USA stencil over you pallet. Using a pencil or chalk, trace out America, see next 2 photos.

Stencil centered over the pallet.

Chalk outlining the USA template. I actually found pencil
to be easier the second time I did this.

8. Paint. You can either paint inside the stencil like I did, our outside. Up to you, either would look cool.

9. Outline. Using your Solid Paint Pen (an amazing accidental discovery by the way!), outline the entire painted America. This covers up the pencil outline AND the dehydrated paint pen looks like chalk, but it's permanent!