Farmhouse Interchangeable Frame Display

I have simplified decorating for each holiday as I have gotten older. I have pared down my stash to things that I truly love and I like to add subtle pieces of holiday decor to mix things up each month. Today’s frame tutorial is one of my favorites! I love the versatility of this farmhouse-style frame. The inside decor (today, hearts for Valentines) can be easily switched out each month. The pallet frame looks great hung on a wall, or propped on a mantle.

Keep in mind, this pallet frame is pretty big- the photos are a little deceptive. The inner frame is 10×13.  It is truly a beautiful statement piece.

Note: you will notice that mid-project I made a couple of adjustments to the finished product. I reference some items that are not in this photo- but they will be linked below.

Supplies needed to make this farmhouse style frame tutorial:

• DIY Wood Pallet Sign with Frame Design
• One Step Stain and Polyurethane
• Wooden Heart Shape (1)
• 3 inch Unfinished Wood Heart Cutouts (2 packages, 4 hearts total)
• Jute Cord
• Small Gold Eye Hooks
• Matte Mod Podge
• Flat White Spray Paint
• All-Purpose Sandpaper
• Vaseline
• Printed Tissue Paper or printed napkins of your choice

Begin by removing any stickers from your wooden pieces. Stain all wood surfaces. I have become quite the advocate of spray stain! Especially when working with pallet wood. It is always so rough- which adds to the charm of it, but makes it really hard to rub stain on without filling your cloth with slivers of wood.

Spray stain is amazing for getting into tiny spaces, like where this frame attaches to the pallet.

Let the stain dry completely.

At this point, I knew I wanted to make my frame pallet look old and chippy. I repeated a process that I used for another project, on Crafts Unleased that I will link the more in-depth tutorial for, here: Chippy Paint Technique

The quick notes- apply Vaseline to the stained surface of the wood in areas where you would like the paint to “chip” off.

Spray paint your entire frame tutorial.

You have to use spray paint here. Brushing paint on with a brush will drag the Vaseline and make a mess of your project.

Spray the whole thing.

Your project is going to look horrible at this point. This is normal. The Vaseline makes it look lumpy and goopy.

Let the paint completely dry! Obviously it will still be tacky on the Vaseline areas. Test for dryness on the wooden areas.

When the paint is dry, using paper towels, wipe the wood, scooping up the Vaseline areas, and clearing them away. The paint will chip right up!

Clean the entire surface using a damp towel with a little bit of soap to remove the Vaseline residue.

Hit the project with some sand paper, to further take the paint down, exposing the texture of the wooden pallet.

Now the hearts!

I defaulted here to another technique that I loved last Valentine’s Day, using Mod-Podge, tissue paper and napkins. I will link you to that full tutorial here: Decoupage DIY Heart Decor

This technique is sooooo easy and foolproof, you will be obsessed with collecting printed tissue paper and napkins for other projects.

Allow the Mod-Podged hearts to full dry.

Using a heavy duty hole punch, or drill, make holes in your finished hearts to hang them inside of your frame.

Decide where you want them to be, and how long you want them to hang.

The larger heart, I chose to knot through two holes.

The smaller hearts, I made one hole and tied them with a bow to hang.

Using pliers, slightly widen the loops of the eye hooks so you can more easily hang your decorative items, then attach the hooks to the inside edge of the frame.

Hang your finished hearts to the frame with the jute loops.

Space them out how you like.

You can see how easy this will be to switch out.

I already have my eye on several seasonal wooden shapes and plan on storing the unused shapes in a fun decorative box until it is time to rotate them.

I hope this frame tutorial inspired to add this versatile decor piece to your home as well!

Shaunte

Shaunte is a 30-something, chocolate-loving, SAHM from Utah. She has been scrapbooking since 1997, the dreaded era of photos cropped with deco scissors. Since then, her work has evolved into a clean, linear, photo-focused style. Her favorite subjects to scrap are her husband and five kids (never a lack for subject material there).