Homemade, Unique, Personalized

Only four days left in the countdown! Today’s post doesn’t include a video (sorry). Don’t forget to scroll down to the end to sign up for a chance to win the $50 Amazon Gift Card.

When it comes to Christmas gifts for my brothers-in law, I’ve always referred to my sisters. I don’t know their husbands well enough to think outside the box (and gift-giving isn’t my strong suit to start with), so they get the same humdrum stuff every year. Practical? Yes, definitely. Fun or exciting? Not so much.

Then several years ago, I acquired several pallets—not the same ones I used to make the Christmas trees earlier this week. If you do home improvement projects, you often end up with pallets from deliveries. As you now know, throwing out perfectly good wood doesn’t sit well with me. So, I got a rare brainstorm. Why not figure out a way to make Christmas gifts with the wood?

I convinced my husband to help me take the pallets apart—which is harder than you might think. Once that was done, I sanded the wood using my trusty DeWalt palm sander.

Just a side note: This sander is the best tool I have ever purchased. I used it to completely sand sap and old stain from a 1200-square-foot wood deck (twice!) as well as our dining room table. If you’d like to see how that turned out, be sure to check the last release post on Monday. Right now, it’s almost 50% off on Amazon (link above).

After sanding the boards, I put a coat of Minwax stain on the front side of the boards. While they dried, we cut two pieces of 1 x 2 a half-inch shorter than the height of my finished project for supports. When the stain dried, we screwed the pallet boards to the supports from the back (be sure your screws are ½ inch shorter than the support and pallet board combined so they don’t go through the front).

I traced the name onto the boards after creating my own stencils from cardstock. You can also purchase stencils on Amazon or a craft store.

The “Troutman” gift was for my daughter and her husband (whose last name is Troutman). I found the metal frame for theirs either on Amazon or Hobby Lobby—I can’t quite remember. The metal sign for “Tullos” I found on Amazon. Just put “metal vintage signs” in the search bar and you’ll find just about anything you might want.

One of my brothers-in-law owned gas stations, so I found a sign for that. Another’s last name is Ford, so I used something similar to the “Tullos” sign with a Ford truck. The possibilities are endless. You can customize each sign for a unique gift for the men in your lives—or even the ladies. My daughter loves theirs, and it hangs in a prominent spot in their home.

Nothing says “love” like something you make with your own, two hands. Never before had my brothers-in-law showed excitement over the Christmas gift I’d given them like they did when they opened these. It made every minute of the work well worth it.

Be sure to enter here for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. If you missed Tuesday’s post, Wednesday’s post, and/or Thursday’s post, be sure to go back and enter for another chance to win the gift card. The more entries, the better your chances!

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