Barnwood Wall Art

This was a fun project to do because it allowed me to use a new tool and create something I have not done before and use new techniques that I am sure to use again. 

A big part of this was coming up with a pattern of sizes and colors that I wanted to to.  First I started by laying out the sizes for this I used three different sizes

1x2

1x4

1x6

I wanted each piece to have a rustic look to them and to look worn and used so I went to town on banging, cutting and scrapping the wood.  Once that was finished I sanded it to insure there were no pieces sticking out. Then I finished each piece by staining them.  For this I wanted to the wood to look like old barnwood so I did a nice coat of water on each board first before staining.  Once the pieces were stained the imperfections I made stood out on each piece.

Here comes the fun part, prepping to use the biscuit joiner.  My dad lent me his to use and I loved it so much that my hubby bought me one for Christmas.

Each piece needed to line up so we taped each one and put a matching number on each side to make sure they all went back together the same way. Thanks to my hubby for this idea otherwise things might of gotten a little crazy.

Each piece joint got a biscuit put in it with glue and then the planks were glued together and once clamped sat for the night to dry. 

Originally this was created for my brother to put a metal Oilers sign on it but once it was all done he decided the wood wasn't dark enough to highlight it so I put it to work in  my basement for myself and boy was I sad about that, lol. 

When my husband and me went to Aruba in September I had come across this Rat Land sign which I took a picture of.  I sent it off to shutterfly to have them enlarge it onto a board.  

To finish it off we added a set of license plates we had also picked up from Aruba.

Once my brother gets his sign attached he is going to send me a picture so I can show you another way to use this.