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!
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.
It all started with some blinds…yep blinds. Who knew right?!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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…
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!
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!
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!
Here is my A all done!
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?
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.
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.
For hanging I add some d-ring hooks. The letter A just need one at the top, the letter J needed two.
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!
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?
I think it is good enough for me!
I love the slanted wood, I think it gives it a little more character…
And the color variation in the wood is just…perfect! So lets take peek of them in my teen boys bedroom reveal shall we!
I LOVE them in this space, and so do my boys. 🙂
The warmth of the wood with the metal really compliment each other.
So do you think you would attempt this project?
A fun letter for your kids 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!
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!
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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!!
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.
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!
Such a great idea I have so many of those cheap blinds in the basement waiting for inspiration to stike!
Yay!! I hope you put them to good use!
Awesome job! Very inspiring! Caught up with you through Remodelaholic
So glad you were inspired Jolena! Thank you!
I love this idea! Maybe this will give me the motivation to take down the blinds. I have been wanting to replace them for too long.
Ha ha! This sounds like great motivation to me Kaitlin! Thanks so much!
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
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!!
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.
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!
I love your weathered rustic look. Great project ideas/examples!
Can you share the font you used?
Did you use a stain in the seams of the letters?