If you have a swimming pool at your house, you probably have more pool noodles than you know what to do with. Actually, you might not have a pool at all and still have a surplus of these handy little noodles. They are inexpensive and I have seen them used in a variety of projects and hacks. As a matter of fact, when I’m done writing this post, I think I need to run to the store to buy some more of these wonderful noodles! Anyway, I do have a swimming pool at my house and I got tired of seeing these noodles thrown all around the yard or worse, left floating in the pool. (If you have ever reached for a pool noodle that has been left floating in pool water overnight, you will know what I’m talking about.) I mean, if you have been thinking about starting your own insectarium at home, then stop reading right here. This post is useless to you. Just leave your noodles floating in the pool tonight and by morning you will have gathered enough insects to start your new business.
But if you’re like me, and your rather let the insects be free, far, far away from your swimming pool, then you need a storage solution for your pool noodles.
If you search for ‘Pool Noodle Storage’ on Pinterest, you will find a number of great ideas, some that are just simple and functional, others that double as cute backyard decor while still serving their purpose. I pinned a bunch of options that appealed to me and ultimately combined them to create my own one of a kind storage solution.
If you want to make your own, the first thing you’ll need is a wood pallet. Wood pallet projects have also become so popular that I’m sure you already know that you should be able to get one for free if you just know where to go. If you don’t, ask around. A lot of businesses receive shipments on wood pallets and then they throw the pallets out to the dumpster. The next thing you’ll need is some pretty paint colors. I was lucky that when I did this project (years ago), I came across some small pre-mixed paint colors on clearance at my local Walmart. I honestly can’t remember for sure, but I think the paint I purchased was meant for indoors. But because the pallet was free and the paint was on clearance, I didn’t worry too much about it. I just figured I’d give it a shot and if it didn’t last, it would be a lesson learned. The other supplies I used were some basic paint brushes, a couple of inexpensive, reusable plastic sheet stencil sets and some foam brushes. Once I had all my supplies gathered, I got to painting. You can mix yours up anyway you want, but I’m a bit obsessive about symmetry and evenness and my pallet had six bigger wood panels across the front and one smaller panel across the center. To give each of the colors equal visibility on the pallet, I chose to do two larger panels in each of three of my colors and the color I chose for the center smaller board became the color for the sides of the pallet as well. Once the paint on the pallet had dried, I went to work stenciling the letters individually to make the cute little sayings on each panel. Again, with these sayings, for my project, they were a combination of sayings I saw on different projects I had found on Pinterest. Search around and find the quotes that you like the best from the different projects out there. This is your opportunity to really make your pallet unique to you and your outdoor space.
As you can see from this picture, I got super excited when I was done stenciling and took a picture of the pallet while it was simply leaning up against the fence, with the used stencils still laying on the ground. However, I did have my hubby attach this flat to our fence and I also applied a few coats of Thompson’s clear waterproofing sealant.
Years later, this pallet looks as good as ever. Only one of the paint colors has started to fade and needs some touching up on the stenciling, but other than that, this pool noodle storage has been working great for our yard and was super easy and inexpensive to make.
No comments:
Post a Comment