DIY Pallet Photo Transfer Art

You guys, I am SO EXCITED to be sharing (you guessed it) another pallet project!  I've mentioned before that I love creating meaningful and inexpensive art and what better way to do that then with pallets.  My son is obsessed with all things trucks and tractors, so it was a no brainer to create custom truck art for his room.

Lately, I've been cutting pallets with a circular saw to avoid prying them apart, but that meant I was missing out on the rustic look of the nail holes.  Do you know how hard it is to pry pallets apart and not split the boards?  Trust me, it's hard.  So, you can image my surprise when 3 long pallet boards showed up at my house.  (Thanks, Mom!)  I knew right away they would be perfect to create rustic art for Owen's room.

I started by cutting the pallet boards down into 9 equal pieces.  Then, cut 6, 1x1/2 inch boards into smaller pieces to attach to the pallets.

Before nailing, I applied a fair amount of wood glue to the 1x1/2 inch boards then nailed them into the pallet boards.

I could have used a piece of thin wood, but chose to use thicker boards to make them more dimensional on the wall.

After the boards were nailed together, I white washed them by mixing equal parts paint and water.

I let the paint dry then it was time for the fun part!   I printed three silhouette pictures that I knew my son would love.  I trimmed the pictures down then applied a decent amount of Mod Podge to the front of each picture.

I laid the pictures face down onto the pallets then pressed firmly and smoothed them out.  Once the Mod Podge was almost completely dry, I wet a rag and dampened the pictures slightly and peeled off the paper.

Some of the white paper will be left on the board, but you can easily remove it by rubbing it off gently with a wet rag.

This method was perfect for the rustic look I was going for and my son absolutely LOVES them!  He had no idea I was making them and was so excited when I told him I had a surprise for him in his room.  

Three custom pictures that were absolutely free and made my son smile.  I'd say it was a successful project!

Just in case you need more pallet inspiration, here's 20 more fabulous ideas!

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