$9 DIY Wood Pallet Marquee Letter

You guys, this project is so simple and easy and it costs $9.

Here's what you will need:

-Small wood pallet: $7.99 at Hobby Lobby (it was 50% off so I paid $3.99)

-White paint (already had at home)

-Wooden letter: $1.50 at Hobby Lobby

-Glue sticks & glue gun (already had at home)

-Drill (already had at home)

-Battery operated LED lights: $5.99 at Hobby Lobby (I used a 40% off coupon so they were $3.60)

 Here is the small wood pallet before I did anything to it.

 Start by painting your wooden letter white (or whatever color you prefer.)

 Mix water and white paint in a 2:1 ration. Ex: if you use 1oz. paint use 2oz. water. I just kind of eyeballed it. Next paint the pallet and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping it with a rag. This just barely gives it a whitewashed look. You could skip this step if you wanted.

 Hot glue the D on the wood. I sanded the D a little bit to give it a more distressed look.

 Next, I had my husband drill holes through the letter and the pallet. I just marked dots where I wanted them so he knew where to drill.  This is what the back will look like. This little box is perfect because it hides all the cords and battery pack.

 Stick the LED lights into the holes through the back. I had to secure mine with a little bit of hot glue so they would stay nice and tight.

 Turn on your lights and enjoy! The light strand can be set to steady or you can set them on a twinkling pattern.

We are going to put it on a shelf in our bedroom once it's all finished.

And here's a sneak peek of our bedroom in the process. I've painted all the walls and I'm currently finishing up the last half of the woodwork. Hoping to have it all finished in the next week or so. Ignore the mess, I didn't have much space to store all my stuff that was in the room while I was painting.

My Favorites!

 Favorite candle.....Black Tie at Bath & Body Works. It smells like a hunky, handsome man. It's so good, try it.

 Favorite Christmas decor.....I'm going to attempt to make this sign and add it to our Christmas decorations.

 Favorite hairstyle.....I discovered a new hairstylist that does AMAZING up-do's and includes tutorials and tips. Every thing she creates is amazing and I'm going to buy her book and learn some of these gorgeous do's.

 Favorite new scent....Bath & Body works Lemon Pomegranate Cream. I am obsessed with it and I stocked up on the shower gel and body lotion before it was discontinued. I believe it will be back at their Semi-Annual sale and I'm going to buy every last one of them ;)

Favorite fall recipe...can't wait to try this Pumpkin Dump Cake recipe for Thanksgiving. It looks delish.

 Favorite person....my husband was such a trooper yesterday during our fall pictures. My brother and his wife were in town and we took their Christmas card pictures and they took ours. I made Aaron do some pretty cheesy things and he did it with very little complaining. 

 I designed our Christmas cards this morning and I'm so excited to share them. They are pretty fun if you ask me and there was a lot of laughter involved while creating them. 

Favorite pup....he is the perfect snuggle buddy and looked too cute not to take a picture.

I'm getting really excited for the holidays. We're spending Thanksgiving at my grandpa's house with my family and then heading to spend the weekend with Aaron's family. Looking forward to yummy food and special time with my favorite people. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and if you're getting snow right now, I'm jealous, but be safe!

What I've Been Up To Lately

After 3 months with no Internet, we finally have it at our house. It was a very nice little break, but it was also very inconvenient and I spent way too much money at Starbuck's buying coffee so I could use their Wi-Fi to get some business done.  I thought I'd catch you up on what's been going on the last three months.

1. We've been busy working on the house any chance we get. So far we've got the living room and guest bedroom completely done. This weekend I painted our bedroom walls and I'm currently painting the woodwork. A big thanks to my Aunt Jan for all her help this weekend. It's looking good. Hopefully I can get it finished in the next few weeks and post pictures.

 The guest bedroom.

The living room.

2. We've gotten to hang out with both of our families which is super fun. We are so glad to be closer to them. We've been to Medicine Park with both my family and Aaron's family. Unfortunately, I had the stomach bug when we went with Aaron's family so I didn't get out of the car much and didn't take any pictures. I felt terrible that I was such a bummer to be around, but I was miserable! We went with my family for my brother's 29th birthday. It was so much fun.

My brother and his wife.

Me and Ashley

Having fun hiking.

 We thought it would be fun to jump off a cliff into freezing cold water. It was a hot day and it felt so good.

 Aaron jumping.

 Me and Ashley jumping.

 The sunset that evening was gorgeous on the top of Mt. Scott.

 Happy Birthday Trevor!

 Cuties!

 I love this picture.

 Pretty Girls

Love my precious parents.

Rachel and Aaron photo bombing.

3. Aaron has been busy getting all the hunting in he can. He is loving his new job and the wildlife area. I on the other hand, am adjusting to seeing all the critters and snakes, but I sure do love it when deer show up in the yard. It really is a nice change and it's very peaceful and quiet out here. I love to lay in the hammock and read. 

 This is the deer that made her appearance in our yard Saturday morning. She just stood there and looked pretty for a long time. I was so glad I had time to run and get my camera and snap a pic.

 Here's a few of the critters caught on Aaron's wild game camera.....skunk. YUCK!

 Turkey

 Coyote

 Raccoon

And a bobcat...YIKES!

 We have also come into contact with two Timber Rattlesnakes on the land.....double YIKES!

This one was right next to our front porch and almost got eaten by my dog.

4. We've gotten to see and hang out with some of our favorite friends. Some of them it has been almost a year since we've seen so it was really fun to see them all and catch up.

5. I have been really busy with photography and I'm loving it. I've gotten to take pictures again for families that I used to do and it's been fun to get to take their pictures again. I missed doing their photography. 

I have a lot of editing to catch up on.  I'm excited for this weekend because my brother and his wife are coming to stay with us and I am taking their Christmas card pictures and they are taking ours. Hoping the leaves stay colorful and don't fall off the trees before then. 

If you made it all the way through this post, I'm impressed. Sorry for the overload of pictures and random life happenings. Now that we're up to speed, I plan on getting back into the swing of blogging and posting more regularly. 

Stay warm this week, friends!