Recycling and re-purposing pallets is a creative and fun way to use these wooden shipping platforms. One way they can be used is as a canvas for graphic art. Since most pallets are large, and some are quite heavy, they are suitable for large spaces including the outdoors. Think of making large signs or graphics for special events, garden art, store displays or other times when impact and size is called for but you want to keep expenses to a minimum. When creating the pallets shown, I used leftover paints for the letters, which made them even more inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
The first step is to find pallets that don’t have huge gaps in between the boards. I didn’t mind if the pallets I was using had some broken boards, since the recycled nature of these is part of their charm for my purposes. I hosed off any pallets that had a great deal of dirt on them, and after they were dry I used a roller to apply a coat of white paint on the top. I did not paint the sides or back of my pallets, and I used an outdoor latex paint that has a flat finish.
I made these pallets for my garden center’s Spring Planting Festival.
Here’s how I got the letters to look good. I made a slide show using Keynote (you can use PowerPoint if you’re a PC user) and chose the fonts that appealed to me most. Once the white paint on the pallets was dry I projected the slide onto the pallet, moving the image until it was placed well on the pallet. I outlined the letters using a marker. I discovered that although a pencil line disappears more during the painting, outlining the letters with pencil was more time consuming. It was faster to use a marker so I chose one for each pallet that was similar in color to the paint I was going to use.
If the top letters line up on the boards well but your bottom lines don’t, trace the outline of the top words first, then tilt the projector until the placement of the bottom words are placed well on the lower part of the pallet.
You don’t have to limit yourself to words…large shapes are also easy to outline and paint.
Use pallet graphics to promote and enhance local events!
