Vintage Decorative Fence Panel Tutorial

I apologize to my loyal followers for being a little MIA around these parts lately...

for the past few months I've been suffering from the blogger blues (for a variety of reasons), but I'm happy to report that I've snapped out of it and am ready to be back in action!

When I posted about my Fall Mantel, I mentioned that I would write a tutorial on how to replicate this 'thing' (which I recreated after seeing one in an antique store)...

...although I didn't know what it was called at the time. 

Since, I've learned that it is actually part of an old fence, railing, or gate.

(Image source)

So now that I officially know what it is, I feel like I can finally write a tutorial on how to make one.

We used scrap pieces from our deck that we tore down, 

but if you don't have access to old weathered lumber like this, you can buy 2x2 pieces of wood at home improvement stores or a lumber yard.

The first step is to make the large outer square frame. Ours measured 28.5 inches X 28.5 inches.

You will need a miter saw to cut all of the adjoining pieces at 45 degree angles.

Attach the four pieces together using thin finish nails and a nail gun.

Once the outer frame is put together, you will begin cutting and attaching the inner pieces. 

You will need to cut (4) 4 inch pieces and (2) 25 5/8 inch pieces.

Assemble the pieces inside the frame as shown below.

Attach the pieces with your nail gun as indicated in the picture above (the white dots show where to place your nails).

Next, cut (2) 14 5/8 inch pieces to complete the inner square. The nails will need to be "shot in" diagonally as indicated by the white dots in the image above.

Since I'm more of a visual person and not so good with measurements and math-y type of stuff, I did the diagonal pieces by placing the strip of wood underneath the panel and traced the angles with a pen. In the image above the white lines show where I drew my cut lines.

Once the diagonal piece was cut to size, we nailed it in as indicated by the white dots above.

The final two smaller diagonal pieces were cut by using the same method as above and then nailed in as shown above.

And there you have it!

If you use brand new wood to make this and want to give it an aged look, here are some tutorials on how to make new wood look weathered:

http://www.theshowandtellblog.com/2011/01/how-to-weather-new-wood.html

http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/making-new-wood-look-old/

Or you could add some paint and rough it up to give it a painted chippy look.

I propped ours up in front of a mirror on our mantel, but you could easily have some mirror glass cut and attach it to the back to make a cook funky mirror too.

I'd love to hear from you if you make one or if you have any other cool ideas of how to display the panel!

Linking up to: 

 
Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt it Friday
Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Night Special
Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphosis Monday 
Kammy's Korner: Trash to Treasure Tuesday 
Beneath My Heart