DIY Ribbon Rack From Salvaged Wood

by To Work With My Hands

7 Materials

Easy

What do you do when you find a piece of embellished wood beside the road? You pick it up of course, bring it home, and make something fun and useful with it!

diy ribbon rack from salvaged wood, crafts, painting, repurposing upcycling, woodworking projects

One morning over the summer I noticed a piece of wood lying beside one of the roads I frequent. It caught my eye, but in my haste, I kept going. The next day, it was still there. And the next. For nearly a week I kept my eye on it until I could stand it no longer. Finally, I stopped, tossed it into the back of the van, and brought it home with me.

For several weeks it stood in the corner of the garage, waiting until I could decide what to do with it.

I loved the detail, and wanted to showcase it, but also wanted to do something about its dated look. When I needed a length of ribbon one day (and lamented my current storage situation) I knew exactly what I'd do with it.

I started by cutting it into 3 pieces, following the natural breaks in the pattern.

Next, I painted them with some leftover paint I had from another project. I loved the lighter look already.

And to make the design pop, I gave it a dry brushing with a gorgeous brown craft paint. It gave it just enough color to make it really stand out.

To finish, I painted a couple of dowel rods with the same paint I used for the boards, attached cafe rod holders, and threaded my ribbon spools through them. After adding a couple of hangers to the back of each board, I hung them on the wall and dropped the dowel rods into the hangers.

Of course I'll need a pair of scissors handy to cut my ribbon, so I attached a hook to the bottom of the smaller piece and it makes a nice place to keep scissors on the ready.

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Salvaged board (beside the road)
Glidden paint - Sahara Desert Sand (Wal-Mart)
Martha Stewart Vintage Decor Paint - Tilled Soil (Michael's)
2 Dowel Rods (Lowe's)
6 Picture Hangers (Lowe's)
4 Adjustable Cafe Curtain Rod Holders (Lowe's)
1 Cup Hook (Lowe's)

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1 question

JoAnn Dibeler on Nov 03, 2016
I hate to sound stupid but how do you "dry brush" when you are dipping it in paint? I've seen this technique mentioned many times but not an explanation of how to do it. Thanks.

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4 of 57 comments

Bay16797251 on Dec 31, 2016
Now that is just beautiful and you are a smart lady!

1 Reply
- To Work With My Hands on Dec 31, 2016
  Thanks so much! It was a fun project.
  
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Janice Van Cleve Rasmussen on Jan 31, 2017
Love this!! Have needed this for YEARS!! I would need a whole wall of them for all my ribbon !! What a find !!

2 Reply
- To Work With My Hands on Feb 01, 2017
  I'm so happy to hear that you've found a solution to a problem! I was honored to join Hometalk for a Facebook Live demonstration on how to make this this past November. You can find that video here if you'd like: https://www.facebook.com/toworkwithmyhands/posts/1123408777766077
  
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