farm table from pallets

we have had the table below outside, in our backyard for about a year now. we bought it from a second hand store downtown with hopes that it would serve as sort of a psuedo farm table where we could have dinners with guests around sunset. this never happened because our backyard was never finished and was pretty much a giant dirt area (i will say that it is finished now and i have some pretty great before/after photos which i will share in my next post) and the table was big but not quite as big as i had hoped. so it became neglected outside and thus with our sun (and some rain) became damaged:

while we were in th midst of working on the yard, i decided to salvage the table and use it as a base for a proper farm table so i could make it longer to fit more chairs. so i asked jeremiah to see if we could take some pallets off the museum's hands.  here they are below in all their glory. and i have to admit that i thought it would be a lot easier to get them off, but the nails were rusty and more like screws.

so it took some time, a lot of muscle, and breaking quite a few of the wood pieces, but eventually it led to this...

once we got enough of them removed and placed on the table just so, jeremiah

screwed them all into the base table and i finished it with some semi-transparent weatherproofing stain that

i purchased at good old home depot. and voila! 

i have honestly always dreamed of having a table like this and the great thing was that the pallets were free! and there is nothing more rewarding than making things with your own hands!

if you feel like making one yourself and don't already have an old base table to use you can purchase legs for pretty cheap at places like home depot or ikea even and if you don't know anyone with some extra pallets lying around, craigslist is a great place to start. they are usually free or maybe around $5 a pallet, because companies have to pay to have them removed so you are actually doing them a favor...and with a little love, getting something beautifully handmade in return.