Do you remember back in Elementary school those cute little Valentine boxes you used to make out of shoe boxes? My third grader, Jack, and I decided to upgrade his Valentine collection box to one made out of up-cycled pallet wood. The Valentine box would also make a great suggestion, collection or ballot box for an organization. You could easily screw in a latch and attach a padlock for security.
Watch this video to view our easy instructions for creating this great box.
Here are the plans for how to make this pallet wood Valentine box. This is a beginner level project that will take about 1 hour with electric tools and 2+ hours with hand tools.
Tools needed:
- 1 Deconstructed Pallet (You’ll only need about 4 boards, one of which should be a 6″ wide piece. Most pallets have at least one board this size.)
- Miter Saw (or hand saw or table saw)
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Nail gun (or hammer)
- 1-1/4 in. x 18-Gauge Brad Nails (for nail gun)
- Belt sander (or hand sander or 100 grit sand paper to do by hand)
Wood cuts needed (For the lid):
- (2) – Mail slot top 4″ 2/8 x 6″ – 0.5″ thick
- (2) – Box braces for top 1″ 3/8 x 9 1/8″ – 0.5″ thick
- (2) – Lid sides 3.5″ x 10.5″ – 0.5″ thick
Wood cuts needed (For the box):
- (1) – Box bottom 6″ x 10 3/8″ – 0.75″ thick
- (2) – Box long sides 4″ x 9″ – 0.5″ thick
- (2) – Box ends 5.5″ x 8″ – .75″ thick
Depending on your pallet wood, you may have to adjust some of the cuts. The wood on my pallet varied in thickness depending on the board. This is typical.
When you get done be sure to sand everything really well. Especially, sand the mail slot area smooth so that little hands don’t get splinters. Once sanded, give your child some Sharpie markers, paint markers, stickers or paint and let them go to town on decorating the box. For my son, Jack, this was the best part.
Would you like to see us tackle a specific project? Comment below and we may feature your project in our next post.
