There are times when you find something and you just know it will be perfect for a certain project. This was the case for me with some 3.5 X 3.5 inch blocks that came from taking apart some pallets.
Most of the blocks still had nails either pounded into them or cut off. Personally, I find that the small amount of metal showing adds to the rustic look of them. It was hard to see the grain of the wood though so the first step was sanding.
I set up a work mate outside. It was much easier to cinch the block on there so it didn’t move around while sanding. I used the orbital sander and sanded down every side of 12 blocks.
The first project I wanted to try was making some Halloween Friends.
Halloween Friends Materials List:
- pallet blocks or 4X4 posts cut into blocks
- orbital or mouse sander
- wood burner or black paint
- small paint brushes
- acrylic paint
First I drew the face and then what the side view would look like. I used my wood burner to etch in the features but one could easily paint in the lines with black paint and a tiny brush. The fill in painting came next and I used some different sized brushes depending on how much coverage a colour had. I like putting paint onto a Pringles chips lid as it is easy to scrape back if I pour too much and it is easy to wash off.
Some of the “friends” had an added feature. Frankie had two rusty bolts screwed into the sides, one of the mummies was wrapped in gauze bandages, two of the jack o lanterns had a piece of branch glued to the top and the black cat had some triangle ears glued onto it.
Letter Block Materials List:
- Pallet blocks or 4X4 posts cut into blocks
- wood burning tool or black paint and brushes
- printer or access to a printer
On my Pinterest feed I have often seen similar sized blocks with HOME on them; some with tea lights and some without. I entertained the idea of drilling holes in the tops for tea light candles but this particular wood was too hard. I also realized that using the blocks to display only one word seemed like a waste. I sat down and came up with a chart, moving letters to different blocks in order to maximize the number of motivational words one could create.
Each block had six sides
| SIDE | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 |
| 1 | H | O | M | E |
| 2 | N | A | L | S |
| 3 | V | I | W | L |
| 4 | F | U | P | R |
| 5 | Y | E | I | J |
| 6 | T | V | “blank” | “blank” |
I came up with 28 three or four letter words.
AMEN FALL HEAL HELP
HOME HOPE JOIN JOY
LEAF LIFE LIVE LOVE
MOVE NEW NOEL NOW
OPEN PLAN PLAY PRAY
RAIN SNOW SUN TIME
WIN WINE WISH YES
Can you come up with any others?
A quote from my youngest son:
“Wine is not a motivational word Mom.”
After figuring out the letter configuration, it was a simple matter of printing out the letters. I used Arial Black font and 215 was the size. This only allows for two letters per page but it worked out great. I cut out each letter and traced them onto the block. I didn’t have a specific direction that each letter would face on any side but tried to work with the wood grain and any imperfections in the wood (remember I was using reclaimed pallet wood).
I used my wood burner to burn in the letters but one could easily paint them. Another option would be to cut out a square the size of the block around the letter, use a utility knife to cut out the letter and then use spray paint.
This project is one that I know I will repeat. I find seeing the word blocks in my own living room to be uplifting. I would recommend them to anyone with young children as well because any object with letters in a home helps to develop lifelong literacy skills.
My last planned project with the blocks from our pallet stack will be done using these four blocks. Can you guess what the project might be??