Pallet Garden

Spring has finally decided to stay here in Virginia, so I'm turning some of my creative endeavors toward my garden.

Two years ago, I decided it was beyond time to work on my garden, and turned a bland space into...well, not exactly a showplace, but the beginnings of a showplace. I laid out flower beds, added borders and plants, did some sprucing up here and there, and even freshened up the front porch. I'll post those pictures another time.

A little more than two months ago, I found a posting on Pinterest and knew I had to try it. Here's a link to the original post: "Make a Pallet Garden in 7 Easy Steps." I do recommend reading over the directions, but I will admit that I didn't follow them to the letter on this project.

I started with the pallet. If you check around, you should be able to get one for free at garden centers, home improvement stores, or just about anywhere. Go ahead and ask - they may be glad to get rid of them! We ordered a portable dishwasher about six months ago which was delivered on a pallet. I kept the pallet just in case I found a use for it. When I found the Pinterest posting, I knew I had found it. I was doubly lucky because one end of the pallet has a block of wood blocking off one open end. If you go hunting for one, try to look for that feature.

The Brightnest/Hometalk web sites (the origins of my idea) show the pallets in their natural state. I, however, wanted something colorful, so I spray-painted the slats different colors. I had all of these colors already, except the blue, which I found on clearance at Wal-Mart.

Because the wood was so weathered, it wouldn't absorb the paint evenly. That bothered me at first, but the more I looked at it, the more I decided I liked the somewhat antique-y/weathered look, so I moved on to the next step, which was to let the paint dry overnight.

The next day, I took the pallet out into the yard, closer to where I would eventually install it. I laid it face down on the ground and began to cover the back with landscape fabric. I had some left over from some work I had done two years earlier and was glad to have found something to do with the remainder.

Using a staple gun, I secured the fabric to the top, stretched it to the bottom, and began stapling. I made the fabric taut but not tight since the fabric can tear, and stapled every inch or so. I wanted to make sure the fabric stayed in place. (One commenter in the original posting suggested nailing plywood to the back to keep soil in, which is a good idea, but I didn't read that until after I finished the project, so I didn't do that.) The fabric was maybe four inches too short to cover the entire back from side to side, so there are two layers to make sure both edges are covered. Then, for good measure, I did a third layer going in the top/bottom direction (which, of course, was the perfect width).

I trimmed the edges with a utility knife and turned it over. I purchased three bags of garden soil from my local garden center and poured two of them onto the pallet. I gently brushed the soil into the open space between the fabric and the painted slats.  This left the top two slats with no soil. I would take care of that in a bit.

I did not pack the soil tightly for several reasons: one, I only bought three bags of soil: two, I was afraid packing the soil tightly might cause the fabric to bulge and perhaps tear on the backside: three, I reasoned that water will travel easier through lightly packed soil. That final reason may come back to haunt me as the weeks go by--watering will pack the soil somewhat so I may have to add more later on.


I stood the pallet up and positioned it along the back fence. (Um, okay, I'll admit, I positioned the pallet before adding soil, took this picture, then laid the pallet back down on the ground to start filling it. But this is where the pallet went when once the soil was added. I apologize for not taking more pictures, but once I got into it, I just couldn't seem to stop until I was done!)

With the soil in place, I started adding plants. I went with a variety of pansy called Viola in solid blue, solid yellow, purple and orange, and purple and white. I wanted the flowers' colors to stand out against the pallets' colors, so the solid yellow went into the gap between the green and blue boards.The next gap got the purple and orange violas. For the next slat, I decided to mix up the solids, so I mixed the solid yellows and blues. The next slat got the purple and white violas.

At this point, I started adding soil from the third bag to fill in the rest of the pallet. I added enough to reach the final slat, then added the blue violas. On top of that, I added the remaining soil. In the gap at the top, I planted the final six violas.

I did end up "borrowing" soil from one of the empty flower pots currently in my garden, so four bags of soil would have been optimal. An extra bag would have filled that gap and allowed me to pack the soil a little bit tighter, with soil left over for other plantings in my garden. I just didn't feel like going out to purchase that fourth bag.

And that's it!

Breakdown of Costs:

Pallet: $0.00
Paint: $1.00
Landscape Fabric: $0.00
Garden Soil: $6.99/bag x 3 = $20.97
Violas: 1 flat (3 plants per cell, 12 cells per flat) = $26.99

Total cost: $48.87 plus tax.

Yes, I could have held costs down a bit by waiting for soil and flowers to go on sale, or go to one of the national home improvement/garden centers. However, I like to support local businesses when I can, and my locally-owned garden center carries a huge variety of plants and vegetables, so that's where I like to shop.

I like the results so much, I may make another. I have another spot in my back yard where a pallet would look nice, but it will wait until a bit later in spring. The area in front of this area has bulbs blooming, and I do not want to damage any of them by trying to muscle a soil-heavy pallet over them. If I do it, I'll definitely post pictures.

Thanks, Pintrest!

Button Monogram

This Crafty Creation was inspired by an Esty find. I don't know how the original was created, so I developed my own method. I decided to make two, one for each of my grand-nieces, Ajia and Saskia. During the creation process, I did not take as many photographs as I would have liked. In my defense, I got so into the process that I kept forgetting to pause and take pictures...an indication that I was really enjoying myself! Start with choosing your letter. Since these are for the aforementioned grand-nieces, my letters were A and S. There are as many font choices available on the internet as there are grains of sand on the beach, but I feel a basic block letter is best. I used Lucida Calligraphy, bolded and italicized.

Printing the letter in color is not necessary, but I like to save on black ink whenever possible. Ajia's letter will be done in purple buttons, and Saskia's in pink buttons, so I chose contrasting fabric. The pattern on the fabric, if any, should not be too bold or colorful as to take away from the design. I pinned the paper to the fabric, then carefully stitched around the edge of the letter with a sewing machine. This picture was taken after this step. I used a wide basting stitch because I knew I would be removing the thread once I finished sewing the buttons on. I assumed the holes would make tearing away the paper easy. This wasn't quite the case. If, though, I were to make another, I would first do the basting stitch with thread, then go over the same path with a standard stitch without thread. This would create more perforations, thus making the paper easier to tear.

Here's the Letter A, after tearing away the paper. As you can see, the threads loosened in places, proving that a second stitching without thread should make the paper easier to remove. These loose threads, however, did not present any problems while I was working. I then mounted the fabric into a frame. Using a frame keeps the fabric taut and frees up both hands to position and sew on buttons. If you choose to use a hoop, make sure it's large enough for the entire letter to be within the boundaries of the hoop. You'll run into troubles if you try to clamp a hoop on top of a button!

Here's the fabric in frame. I had to fold the edges under as the fabric was wider than the frame. Any creases created by this folding will be ironed out later. This frame was just tall enough for the letter, with the buttons rolling over the dowels just a little, but not enough to create a problem.




I then started sorting buttons. I found these little bottles of buttons at Wal-Mart.I bought two in each color to get as many unique buttons as possible. I poured them out and sorted them by small, medium, large, and unique.

The little group of buttons above the small ones I decided were unusable because the holes did not go through the center. Finally, using a like-colored thread, I got started!

Staying inside the outline, start sewing buttons onto the fabric. I mixed up both button size, color, and type to keep the pattern as random as possible.


Here's a close-up of part of the letter A, with the black outlining thread removed. You can see the different colors and sizes of the buttons, and no two identical buttons went next to each other.


Once the buttons are sewn on, remove the black outlining thread. (Doing this from the back of the fabric is easier than the front.) I ironed around the buttons to remove any creasing from the stitching frame.

The final projects!

Time to complete: Approximately eight to ten hours, depending on how fast you sew.
Cost of project:     Button bottle - $5.77 x 4 =  $23.08 (Wal-Mart pricing).
                             Fabric - Fat Quarters can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00,
                               depending on the fabric and where you buy it. I used fabric I already 
                               had, so I had, so no fabric cost.
                             Thread - Spools of thread can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00+ 
                               depending on size of spool and brand of thread. Again, I used 
                               thread I already had, so no additional cost for thread.
                             Frame - Frame costs vary depending on size and where purchased. 
                                I bought mine at Michael's craft store. Each frame was $14.99,
                                but there was a buy-one-get-one sale, so my cost was only 
                                $14.99 for both.
Total cost:             $38.07 (plus tax). 

The cost of the buttons made this a bit expensive, but I know the remaining buttons will be used in other projects, so that cost will be spread over those other projects. If cost is an issue, check thrift stores or yard sales for button collections. I specifically wanted colored buttons, so I had to buy the buttons. Alternately, I could have used colored fabric and plain white buttons, which may have been cheaper or easier to find at thrift stores. Or I could have used white fabric and muli-colored buttons--whatever I had on hand. Feel free to experiment with the options and above all, have fun!