This project is from Kelley with Waterfall Woodworking, and she shows us a step-by-step tutorial on how to create this easy rustic mail holder.
This project is not only budget-friendly but also allows you to add a personal touch to your home decor. So, let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather Your Materials
For this project, I used pallet wood that I got for free off of Facebook Marketplace. You can often find similar materials for no cost, making this a great budget-friendly DIY project. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pallet wood
- Miter saw
- Jigsaw
- Brad nailer
- Spar urethane
- Speed square
- Clamps
- Sandpaper
- Blank keys (optional for hooks)
Step 2: Start Cutting the Wood
Initially, I attempted to remove the wood from the pallet using a hammer, but that wasn’t working out too well. So, I switched over to my jigsaw, which made the task much easier. Once I had plenty of pallet wood pieces cut, I laid them out to determine how long I could cut them.
Step 3: Make Precise Cuts
After laying out the wood, I headed over to my miter saw to make the precise cuts. It’s important to remember that this is a rustic project from pallet wood, so the pieces won’t all fit together perfectly, and that’s perfectly fine!
Step 4: Sand the Wood
Before assembling the pieces, I gave everything a light sanding to knock down some of the rough edges and loose splinters. This step is crucial for safety and will also make the final product look much nicer.
Step 5: Assemble Your Mail Holder
Next, I clamped my wood pieces together to keep them in place while I attached the top and bottom support pieces. I used my brad nailer to secure everything together without needing to glue the individual pieces. This method ensures that the structure remains stable and intact.
Step 6: Create the Mail Holder Shape
For the mail holder, I lined up my piece of wood with my speed square at a 45-degree angle. Once I was satisfied with the angle, I set my miter saw to 45 degrees and cut two triangles. These triangles will give the mail holder its unique shape.
Step 7: Secure the Triangles
Once everything looked good, I secured the triangles in place with my brad nailer. I then nailed the front of the mail holder in place and secured the triangles from the back for extra support.
Step 8: Seal the Wood
Even though this piece will be inside, I decided to seal it with Spar urethane to give it a smooth top coat and lock in any loose wood fibers. This step is especially important with rough pallet wood. I’m so glad I decided to do this because it really enhanced the color and made the wood super smooth—no splinters here!
Step 9: Create Key Hooks (Optional)
Now, this part is just something extra I wanted to do. I saw online hooks made from keys and thought it would be a great addition. I bought some blank keys and bent them until they looked like hooks. Be extremely careful with this step and take your time, as I definitely broke a few keys in the process!
Step 10: Attach the Key Hooks
After bending the keys into shape, I found it helpful to bend them over my workbench. Once I had them shaped, I attached those key hooks with some screws for added functionality.
Step 11: Final Touches and Enjoy!
And there you have it—a rustic pallet wood mail holder! I love how this turned out; the color looks great, and the pallet wood adds such a cool rustic element to my home. Thanks for following along with me on this DIY journey!
Conclusion
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Video
This project is a fantastic way to repurpose pallet wood and keep your mail organized. Enjoy your new DIY pallet wood mail holder and the satisfaction of creating something both practical and stylish!