Pallets and Patents Diy Wall Art

by ScavengerChic

December is always the month when I shop for a new calendar for the new year and last December was no different. So while I'm looking at all the cute puppies, sunsets, grumpy cat, beautiful gardens, and hunk calendars, the one that really caught my eye was this calendar of vintage patent drawings.

pallets and patents diy wall art, crafts, diy, pallet, wall decor

For my purposes the calendar doesn't do a very good job at acting like a calendar. The dates and days of the week are strung out in a row at the bottom of each page. There is no room to jot any appointments, birthdays, anniversaries...you know, all the stuff you scribble on a calendar.

Where the calendar lacks at being a calendar it more than makes up for as being a great source for patent posters. The pictures have nice perforations at the top and bottom so they can be torn out of the calendar easily and they are only printed on one side, so there is no bleed from any other printing. Absolutely perfect for wall art.

If right about now, you're saying I don;t want to go out and buy a calendar.., just bear with me. At the end I'll give you a link to my followup post which will tell you where you can get vintage patent art for FREE..something I didn't know when I bought the calendar.

Old patents need the rustic look of old pallets. It's like they were meant for one another.

Start by laying out your pallet backing. My pallet backing is 8 inches taller and 4 inches wider than my patent images.

Most of my signs are attached with cross braces to hold the pallet wood together. This project has the same cross braces, but this time I decided to put them on the front.

The cross pieces were attached with finishing nails from a nail gun, but screws or builders adhesive would also work.

Finished off my backing with a coat of white wash...watered down white acrylic paint.

Last step was to attach the patent image to the backing with modpodge. Make sure you push down the picture into the grooves of the pallets and push out any air bubbles as it dries.

Such an easy pallet wood project that gives maximum impact.

The picture above is from the show Fixer Upper from their show The House in the Woods, it incorporates three patent images of instruments.

After I bought the calendar I found where I could get patent art work for free. So before you run out and buy a calendar make sure you read this first. It will also tell you how you can enlarge a patent image at home on your own computer.

http://scavengerchic.com/2016/02/22/vintage-patent-art-work-for-free/

For the complete blog post click on the link below. Hope to see you there.

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3 of 4 questions

Tom4541564 on Feb 28, 2016
Where did you find the calendar?

0
Dierdre Bird on Sep 18, 2017

I did go to the U.S. official patent office website, but was looking for an illustration of a patent for the railroad switch-track invention (long story, but it would be a cherished family treasure if I could find the illustration, enlarge it, and frame it.) I couldn't find it, and wondered if you had any suggestions?

0
Alexia on May 13, 2023

Can you attach old photos for this project?

1