As I said last month in my April Thrifty Chicks blog post, shopping your crafting stash can be a real thrill. Especially during times like these while we are all staying home, doing our part, foregoing the usual thrifting and craft store trips we normally take. It also saves money, and that's a win-win in my book! My latest project involves a plain thrift store pizza peel (or cutting board) that I managed to relove into something new and different.
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I got the idea for this project from my Thrifty Chicks' monthly challenge. This month's theme is cutting boards. (Be sure to visit my friends' awesome projects at the bottom of this post as well!) I've had a thrift store pizza peel sitting around since August of last year just waiting to be used for a project. I had originally been saving it for a copycat Autumn DIY that I saw online but then this challenge came up and well, here we are.
After some thinking and some Pinterest searches I came up with another idea. What if I gave the pizza peel a more authentic patina and maybe a small shelf and some metal hooks? What if I used one of my farmhouse stencils? I have to say that I changed my mind a few times during the course of this project but I am really happy with how it turned out.
As for patina, I decided to stain it with a grayish wood stain followed by a whitewash wood stain. You can find a complete tutorial for this in How To Whitewash Natural Wood Farmhouse Shelves. I'll be sharing an abbreviated tutorial in this post, with a supply list at the end of the post.
Here's the pizza peel, au natural. I honestly don't think that it had ever been used for anything before, let alone for pizza.
Here's the back side of the pizza peel, showing how the wood is graduated, possibly for better sliding into hot pizza ovens? You can also see the $2.99 Goodwill price tag. Score!
I love cutting boards with holes in their handles. If it doesn't come with a leather cord you can always add one later. That way you have a means to hang your board if you so choose.
Since I didn't want to stain the back side of the peel, I used some painter's tape to tape off the back side of it. For some tips on how to adhere painter's tape to round objects, check out How To Frog Tape And Etch A Round Mirror.
I thought I'd only need one coat of the dark Briarsmoke stain, but for some reason this pizza peel really absorbed the stain and didn't turn out as dark as I'd wanted. Either that, or I just didn't stir the stain well enough.
So I added a second coat. Now we're talking! I love the dark gray tint!
I waited about 3 minutes, then I used a cotton cloth to wipe some of the stain off, and then I let the peel dry overnight.
In the meantime, I turned to my scrap wood for making a small display shelf. I started out with a 3/4" x 36" length of poplar.
The wood got cut into three even pieces that I then glued together with Gorilla Glue to create a display "shelf" to add to my pizza peel. Glue was good enough since I knew I'd never be putting anything heavy on the shelf.
Once the glue dried I stained the piece with the same Briarsmoke stain I used on the pizza peel, then wiped off any excess stain. You can see I waited too long on this piece since it came out darker than the peel did during this same step in the staining process. But that's perfectly okay since farmhouse does not equal perfection!
Last but not least I went back and added a coat of White Wash stain to both the pizza peel and the "shelf" I created. (I forgot to get a picture of the shelf.) After a few minutes I used a clean cotton cloth to wipe some of that white stain off. (Again no picture at the time, sorry.)
Once they both dried it was ready for styling! I wanted to glue the shelf onto the pizza peel about 2-3 inches up from the bottom of the peel. However, the stain was still somewhat sticky and I only had so much time to take photos for this post. Sooooo I simply placed the shelf up against the peel for photos, but will be using my trusty Gorilla Glue to glue the shelf directly onto the pizza peel when the stain's fully dry.
(At some point I decided to skip the hooks. That's probably because I realized I will mainly be using this on my farmhouse shelf as decor. If it's sitting on a shelf, the hooks would be useless. But I have left open the possibility of stenciling on it for a future date when the spirit moves me -- and it most likely will.)
I also had a revelation about this rustic old cow plaque. I decided that it would look fabulous attached to the finished pizza peel!
And I was right! All I did was poke a flat push-pin into the wood, and then I hung the cow on that. When I get tired of the cow I can remove it and add something else, or just take the pin out completely since the hole it will leave behind is almost too tiny to notice.
The patina on this guy is perfect rustic farmhouse.
I added three vintage milk bottles filled with boxwood for contrast and some added texture. I frequently use them for decor around the house, as vases and in vignettes.
The first bottle says "Producer's Creamery, Benton Harbor Mich" on one side and "Michigan, tourist empire of the inland seas" on the other side. I thought that quote was pretty funny!
This bottle doesn't have any ink on it but it says "Sangamon Dairy Products" and "Springfield, Illinois."
SUPPLIES TO STAIN AND WHITEWASH NATURAL WOOD PIZZA PEEL
1. Rust-oleum Varathane Classic Wood Stain in White Wash (This is what I used but I'm not sure it's still being made. You can substitute with any brand stain in white wash color.)
8. Rags/lint free cloths (Clean, old t-shirts work well, too.)
10. Thrifted cutting board or pizza peel
11. Paint stir sticks
12. Painter's tape (optional)
13. scrap wood for shelf (I used a 3/4" x 36" poplar square cut into 3 pieces and glued together)
14. Gorilla Glue
15. leather cord or jute twine for hanging (optional)
Well, that's it for today, friends!
I hope you enjoyed reading about
How To Stain And White Wash
A Farmhouse Pizza Peel With Shelf
and that I've inspired you in some way.
and that I've inspired you in some way.
Don't Forget To Pin It!
Now be sure to check out my talented friends' cutting board transformations as well!
Lora B. Create And Ponder
Cutting Board Kitchen Printable And Simple Decor Ideas
Little Vintage Cottage
Vintage Cutting Board Makeover
Color Me Thrifty
Repurposed Cutting Board Sign
Itsy Bits and Pieces
Simple Farmhouse Lazy SusanCutting Board Kitchen Printable And Simple Decor Ideas
Vintage Cutting Board Makeover
Audrey Would
DIY Laptop Stand From A Butcher Block Cutting BoardRepurposed Cutting Board Sign
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Leave a Comment!
This turned out so great, Kathleen! I love how you stained it, and adding a little shelf really added to the ways it could be used! Love how you styled it, too! Beautiful!
We kind of did have a similar idea! I love how your pizza peel/cutting board shelf came out, it's just beautiful!
Tania
PS. I almost ran out of time too for pictures!
Hi Kathleen,
I love how you made the little shelf and the staining of this. The cow is fabulous on this. Love it.
Kris
Love how your project turned out Kathleen! That cow is so sweet.
This is beautiful! I love how it turned out. I also love the bottles you used!
This is such a great DIY, Kathleen! I'm so glad you shared the DIY steps because doing a white wash is something I've never tackled but really want to try. I just love the cow and the boxwood wreath. They're the perfect finishing touch!
To prove my cutting board ignorance, I didn't even know this was called a pizza peel! Love this upcycle; the colors are great and I love the cow with either the milk bottles or the wreath. Fun decor item!
What a fun and versatile makeover, Kathleen! I love it!
Great project and tutorial. "Marrying" two kinds of wood together with the stains will give a lot of us GOOD ideas! You style things so nicely, too; I hope your family notices and appreciates all your efforts!
I have a similar idea about pizza peel and made ones for my home. I used white color because it is suitable for my white farmhouse style. But I find in your post some things to decor with it like the milk bottles or simple boxwood wreath. I will prepare them and decor in front of this wood pizza peel.
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