Picket Fence Shelf

I made several of these picket fences a few years ago after seeing one at a craft fair for $50.00.  It is actually a shelf!
I forgot how cute it was until I found it in the attic right before Easter. 
It was easy to make and sure looks good on my mantle!

To make this cute shelf you'll need the following:

1.  Wood - I used  several 1 x 4 pine boards for the pickets.  You could use particle board or heck you could use picket fencing! 
2.  I bought a 2 x 4 for the bottom shelf part and 2 - 1 1/2 X 1 1/2's for the small shelves. 
3.  Paint.  I originally painted my piece green, I was into green last year.  As you can see I painted it white this year.  A drop cloth if you are messy like me and a large paint brush. 
3.  Nails - You'll need 1 - I put it on the top shelf and the wreath is hanging off it.
4.  Screws.  I wanted this piece to be durable and sturdy so I used screws to hold it all together. 
5.  Wire or a picture hanging kit to hang the piece.  I used screws and wire. 

The tools you'll need are - a pencil, a saw (my husband used a miter saw), electric drill and electric sander, a level, right angle tool, ruler and finally a hammer. 

Lets get started!

Measure out your piece.  You need to decide how tall you want your piece and how many pickets you want it to have.  Mine is 24 inches tall.  I then cut each piece of 1 X 4 wood 24 inches from the bottom and sanded the rough edges.
Now you want to measure how wide you want your pickets.  To make mine easier I used the width of my boards so mine are each 4 inches wide.  I made mine 4 across but you can use as many pickets as you want. (NOTE - they are still square at this point).
Next I decided I wanted the 'dog ear' look so using a ruler and a right angle I drew an angle off the top of each piece and cut that out using a miter saw.  I sanded all these 'pickets' down with an electric sander.

Now to make the shelves! 
I laid the pickets down on a flat surface and spaced them using another piece of 1/4 wood.  You can make them however close or far apart you want them.  I made one of these for my Mother-In Law and put them closer together so I used a nail as my guide.
Next I measured my total width of my piece; mine is 17 1/8 inches wide now including the spaces.  I cut my 2x4 that length and sanded it down so there are no rough edges.  Then I cut both of the 1 1/2's the same length, sanded and set aside. 

Putting it all together. 
Using an electric drill and the screws I then screwed everything together starting at the bottom.  I put 2 screws in each picket and secured the bottom of each picket into the large 2 x4 on the 2 inch side (you are making a flat shelf).  Make sure you are flush at the bottom!  REMEMBER YOU ARE WORKING BACK TO FRONT. 
For more stability I then screwed one of the 1 1/2's using the same method to the middle of the pickets using 1 screw for each picket.  I checked my level using a leveler at this and the next step.  Finally I screwed the last 1 1/2 a third of the way down from the top of the picket again using 1 screw in each picket. 

Turn your piece over at this point and amaze yourself! 

Now I added a small nail to the top mini shelf right in the middle.  You can do this or you don't have to.  I used this to hang my DIY boxwood wreath. 

OPTIONS - you can make it look like a real picket fence and not do the 'shelves' on it and instead use boards to make an X across the piece.  This could be pretty cute and decorative on a wall if you went big with it.  You could also make each shelf as wide as I made the bottom one.  Be creative!  Whatever you think you can do you can! 

Painting is next.  Originally I painted mine green.  I was really into green at the time.  I decided to paint it white and sand some of the white off to show green and clean wood underneath. 

My final step was to be able to hang it.  Using my picture hanging screws and wire I created a loop to hang the piece when done. 

SOOO cute! 
I will tell you that it does take a bit of time to complete this craft.  It took my husband and myself about 2-3 hours with sanding, painting etc. 

If you have any questions PLEASE email me and I'll try to answer them as best I can.  Unfortunately I don't have fancy design software to show you each piece in a blueprint style. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate you reading this and for your support. 
I'll be back next week with a coaster craft that is super easy to do and will look so cute on your patio this summer! 
Until then, stay safe!
Victoria

You can always follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I am on Facebook but not as active, but if you like my weekly posts and make a comment weekly you'll see me in your newsfeed every Tuesday!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dragonflies-and-Thistles/491393717621010?ref=hl

Or you can follow me right here on the blog!
www.dragonfliesandthistles.BlogSpot.com