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Rustic Industrial Letters Made From Wood Pallets and Old Blinds

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Hey!  It is Mindi from MyLove2Create again. 🙂

The last project I shared here was my DIY Triptych Frame, and it was for my slowly transforming Master bed room.  Today I am excited to share a project that I made for my two oldest boys in their bedroom makeover.  Some very cool Rustic Industrial Letters!

These rustic industrial pallet wood letters are HUGE and easy to make! She made them for just the cost of a can of spray paint.

 

 Aren’t they are so fun!? The best part is that I basically made them for free!  (well I guess I did buy a can of spray paint…but that was it!)

How to Make Your Own Pallet Wood Rustic Industrial Letters
(using old blinds!)

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What you will need to make your own Large Rustic Industrial Letters:

  • Old Vinyl blinds
  • Pallet wood, for two large letters I used one large pallet.  For one large letter you could use a small pallet.  My letters were roughly 27 inches tall.
  • Wood glue and finish nails and scrap wood to connect pallet wood
  • Screws
  • d-ring hooks, for hanging
  • Metallic spray paint, I used Oil Rubbed Bronze
  • Wood stain (optional), I used Natural
  • Miter saw, Jig saw, drill, nail gun, projector and cut out letters

Full written tutorial below the video. Can’t see the video? Click here to watch it on YouTube — and subscribe to the Remodelaholic channel for new videos! 


It all started with some blinds…yep blinds. Who knew right?!

These old blinds never looked so good! I love the HUGE wall letters she made these into!

 I got these for free on craig’s list a few years back and have used them in several projects.  Last year when I made my Pottery Barn Knock Off Clock, it inspired me to want to try a cool project with these blinds doing a similar thing.  So I am so excited to FINALLY share this idea with you!

pallet wood into rustic industrial wall letters

 I used pallet wood, from a large pallet I took apart quite a while ago, so I couldn’t find a good “pallet before” shot, sorry.  But I figure you all know what a pallet looks like! 🙂  Here is my pallet wood all lined up and ready to go.  I love how wide it is, which is rare for pallet wood, but any size of wood will work for this project.

Attaching pallet wood with scraps, I had no idea it was so easy to make those HUGE wood letters!

 I used scrap plywood (mine was 1/2 inch thick) to secure the boards together on the back.  I just put glue on the plywood and nailed it onto several boards.  Make sure you nail into all the boards you are attaching together.

overhead projector to transfer letters on pallet wood for AMAZING rustic industrial letters

 With my wood ready I began my search for the perfect block letters.  I wanted them to be simple so they would be easy to work with.  Since I am having printer issues I decided to just cut my letters from paper on my circuit.  I borrowed my husband’s work overhead projector and projected them onto my wood.  You could print out your letters and cut by hand.

I wanted my wood to be on a slant, so I placed my letters accordingly and then just traced around the shadow with my pen onto the wood.

getting ready to cut letters with jigsaw

 I know it is hard to see but in the photo on the left you can kind of make out my J and A.  Which are the first letters of my boy’s names.  On the right I clamped the wood down and proceeded to cut with my jigsaw.  I had to reposition the wood and re-clamp several times while cutting out my letters.

Also, I want to warn you that sometimes your letters will fall apart while cutting them out…don’t stress!  It is an easy fix…

fixing letter after cutting -- I had no idea it was so easy to make giant wood letters!

 While cutting out my J it fell apart in three places.  Once it was all cut I placed the pieces upside down and put them back together.  Then I used more scrap wood to secure them with glue and nails.  Easy fix!

natural staining pallet wood letters, full tutorial on Remodelaholic.com

 With both letters cut out I debated on how to finish them.  Any type of stain will work…I decided to go with Natural, which brings out all the richness of pallet wood!

cut old blinds to fit around wood letter for an industrial rustic look

 Next up was creating my faux metal band.  I cut the blinds on my miter saw to the correct lengths to surround my letter.  The A was pretty easy with no curves.  The J wasn’t too bad, since the plastic blinds bend, but the inside circle was a bit challenging, but I persevered!

using old blinds to make faux metal around pallet letters

 Here is my A all done!

spray painting old blinds to look metallic

 I decided to spray paint the blinds first so that I wouldn’t have to tape off my wood later.  I think you could do it either way.  Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze was my color of choice.  Can you see the bent piece from the inside of my J?

attaching blinds around wood to look like a metal band

 I mostly just nailed on the blinds, but in a few spots, like the inside circle of the J, I screwed it into the wood.  I would recommend nailing on the blinds to secure them and then adding screws later into each “blind” section.  I also added hot glue in a few spots like the center of the A because I couldn’t get a nail gun or drill in such a small space.

Easy way to touch up spray paint

 The last thing I needed to do was touch up my nail marks because they made some white of the blinds show up.  I used my spray paint trick (that I figured out how to do many years ago).  All you do is spray paint a spot on a piece of newspaper, then use a cheap paint brush to rub in the paint and then brush paint on your touch up marks.  So easy, just work fast!

I used only three sprays for both letters to touch up, not bad!  I didn’t have to tape the wood…sa-weet!  Like I said, you could do it either way, attach the blinds and then tape the wood and then spray paint them.

d rings on back for hanging large letters, MyLove2Create

For hanging I add some d-ring hooks.  The letter A just need one at the top, the letter J needed two.

DIY rustic industrial letters -- so much easier to make than it looks like! These were practically FREE

 That is it!  My boys now have some huge rustic industrial letters for their room, and I finally got to do my project! I am thrilled at how they turned out!

DIY Rustic Industrial decorative letters

 You can hardly see where I touched up, and wouldn’t even notice unless you were looking!  So what do you think?  Do they look like real metal to you?

close up of faux metal banded pallet letters -- I can't believe what she used to fake the metal part!

 I think it is good enough for me!

Rustic Industrial J, tutorial on Remodelaholic.com

 I love the slanted wood, I think it gives it a little more character…

These rustic industrial letters are amazing and easy to make! Cheap, too. Now I just have to decide what word to spell, or do a monogram.

 And the color variation in the wood is just…perfect!  So lets take peek of them in my teen boys bedroom reveal shall we!

Teen boys' room with rustic industrial letters, MyLove2Create

 

 I LOVE them in this space, and so do my boys. 🙂

 

Rustic Industrial Letters in teen boys' shared room, MyLove2Create

The warmth of the wood with the metal really compliment each other.

large rustic industrial letters DIY tutorial

 So do you think you would attempt this project?

 

rustic industrial letter on a faux whitewashed brick wall for a teen boys' shared room, MyLove2Create

A fun letter for your kids room…

The rustic industrial wood and faux metal on these DIY letters looks perfect with the whitewashed faux brick wall. So great for a teen room!

 

 Or even for your office or family room?  Letters would look great on a gallery wall of family photos with your last name’s initial!  Heck you could even do shapes, like a star or a heart…that is the beauty of DIY!

horizontal image, MyLove2Create

 

 I hope you enjoyed this project and you are inspired to do your own!

Thanks for reading I would love it if you came to visit me at my blog for more great DIY projects!

Hugs,
Mindi

 

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More great pallet upcycle projects:

Turn a pallet into a console tableBuild a simple console table or end table for under $10 using old pallet wood @Remodelaholic

Add pallet slats to the top of an old coffee tableglass top coffee table into pallet top coffee table

Turn a pallet into a desk- or wall-mount charging stationpallet-charging-station-apieceofrainbowblog copy

Make a rustic pallet jewelry holderRustic Pallet Jewelry Holder

Put your pallets to work on an accent wall:Mandy Jean Chic pallet wall 1

as a headboardNellie Bellie boy room 7
 or on the ceiling!Remodelaholic pallet ceiling

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Filed Under: Art, Before and After, Contributor, Decorate, How To, Tutorials Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

About Mindi

I have a great love to DIY, repurpose, and create! I am constantly seeking to make things more useful, effective, and beautiful in my home one project at a time. My projects are done in tutorial form so I can inspire others to create too!
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Comments

  4. gail says

    blinds?! Mindi, you’re brilliant! I mean, I knew you were smart, but this is a whole new level.

    I can see them used in soooo many ways! oooo gee!

    I had some–ohh, I hope I didn’t throw them out!

    I have loved your J & A since you first showed them, but now that I know how you made them??? wow!

    gail

    Reply

    • Mindi says

      Gail you sure know how to make a girl Smile!! Thank you for all your kind words, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with because YOU are amazing!!

      Reply

  5. Chris Neal says

    Just a tip for the rounded parts of the industrial letters – heat up the plastic blind slat and it will bend easier to fit the area. I will be making a huge letter “N” for our last name. Love, love, love the idea. I have great, clean, new pallet boards from a billiards table delivery – can’t wait.

    Reply

    • Mindi says

      That is such a great tip Chris! Thank you so much for sharing, I will totally remember that for the future! I am so happy you love the idea, I am sure your “N” will turn out amazing! Have fun!

      Reply

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