Paint Palette Garden Display

Introduction

Hello Everyone,

First, I would like to thank you for viewing my instructable.
And, if you enjoyed it, please give me a vote!
Thanks....


You probably will need  a weekend to complete the project.


Now onto the instructable...

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Materials needed:
(What I used, I had laying around the house.)

1 - 1/2 Sheet of 2" foam board.
(you could use a sheet of plywood, too)
1" x 4" x 6' pine board (scrap wood, would work!)
Jigsaw

Flowers (colors of the rainbow0
Flower pots
Small shovel and rake


Paint
Primer
I used Old Master door staining kit. (it was left over from a door that I did!)
3M blue masking tape

Lag Bolts
2 - 4" 5/16" lag bolts
4- 2" 5/16"  lag bolts
10 - 5/16" washers

I used a overhead projector to transfer the pattern to the material.
As you will see in the next step...

You could free hand draw the palette, but I preferred to use my trusty overhead projector.
That way, I get everything in correct proportions.

Once you have the vectors printed.
I made a transparency with my laser copier.
Then I projected it onto the material.
I used a sharpie to outline the palette.

Now onto the next step...

Once the outline is traced out.
I retraced the outlines with some templates for the pots that I had.
As, them holes had to be able to fit the pots.
Pots come in different sizes, so measure your pots!
.
I measured the pots roundness and created a vector file of a round circle.
Mine was about 5.5". I had to make a couple different sizes to see what would fit the pots.

Then, I used a jigsaw to cut the foam.
It was very easy to cut.
A bit messy, but easy.

Once cut out, I sanded all the edges with some 150 grit sandpaper.

Now, to make the stand for the palette.

The base could be made in many different ways.
I sketched out some quick ideas and went ahead with them.

I had some 1" x 4" cedar.
I traced out my pattern I made in Coreldraw.
I used double stick tape to adhere the boards to each other.
So, I could get exact copies of each.

The pictures above say 1000 words!

I used gorilla glue to mount the rails to the board.
I also used construction screws to fasten the rails to the boards.

I used my gimlet to make a starter hole.

I connected the wood to the foam with the 2.5" lag bolts.
Don't forget the washer on the nut side.
I put the nuts on the underneath side.

I had to have somewhere to put the rake and shovel.
I had a piece of 2 inch pvc pipe laying around.

I just cut it in half with the proper angle and screwed and glued them to the stand.

I just kinda guessed at the angle, as I did a few practice cuts on some scraps.

You would want to mount the palette on the stand in order to get the correct placement.
It took and another person to find the correct placement.

You will want to drill a drain hole in the pipe to allow water to drain out.

Now to paint the shovel and rake...

Now, to paint the shove and rake.

You could just leave them as is.
The red shovel was a little to bright for me.

But, I thought I could make them look more like a brush.

I just masked them and painted the silver first.
Then mask again, paint the black.

I used black electrical tape for the markings on the silver part.

Then, give them a  coat of urethane.

I painted the palette with some door paint that I had previously used.
It was the Old Masters steel door paint kit. (picture below)

Here are instructions on how to use the staining kit.
http://www.myoldmasters.com/learn-woodgraining-steeldoors.html

You could just paint the material a tan color and then wood stain the tan color.
That looks good, too!

It did a real nice job on the foam board.
It actually looks like real wood!
The foam is very durable too!

If you used plywood, you could just stain and varnish the plywood.

After the paint and stain dry, you can varnish the palette.

The finished Palette.
I hope you enjoyed my instructable!