Sometimes in life, you take a chance, and are surprised at how well things turn out. I found this oar at a yard sale, and wanted to challenge myself to see if I could DIY it into a copy of the Pottery Barn Weathered Oars. Does this DIY Clutz have what it takes to take this project to the next level?
This is the oar that I purchased at a yard sale. The original price was $5.00 but along with other items purchased and a standard yard sale negotiation, I ended up paying $2.00 for it. I had all of the supplies already on hand, so the only cost to this project was the oar and some time.
It was pretty beat up and in need of some trash to treasure love. And I know you are crazy jealous of my orange drop cloth!!!!
This was my muse. Pottery Barn sells a set of three for $199.
Supplies
Oar (old and beat up)
Wood stain (I used a grey for this project)
Blue and white milk or chalk paint
Foam star stickers
Painters tape
Paper towels or old rags
Paint brush
2 sanding blocks – one very course and the other not as much.
Instructions
1. Sand the oar with a course sandpaper block and wipe off the dust.
2. Using a paper towel or old rag, rub in the wood stain and with a clean paper towel or old rag, wipe off the excess.
3. In the area for the stars and stripe, paint with white chalk paint. In retrospect, I should have painted the entire top of the oar with the white.
4. Attach foam star stickers and painter tape on top of the white paint.
5. Paint again with a medium or dark blue paint.
6. Remove the star stickers and painters tape.
7. Using both a coarse and lighter sandpaper block, sand down the oar and wipe off the dust.
8. Using the wood stain and wiping on and off as before, touch it up a little more.
9. Sand again one last time with a combination of both sanding blocks until it’s reached your desired level of distress. And voila!
Once again, here are the Pottery Barn oars, sold as a set for $200.
And here is my $2.00 DIY version. I had so much fun making this, and was thrilled at how it turned out.
For the time being, it’s all about the trash to treasure, and putting in a little sweat equity for some money saving results!
Editor’s update: Items like this are now for sale in our eBay store – check out our Fortitude Collection and 100% of profits from this collection go directly to Pink Fortitude, LLC’s breast cancer advocacy.
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Love, hugs, and rowing up the river with one oar.
AWESOME copy!!
Thanks so much Martina! Hugs, Holly
I showed the 2 pics to a male coworker and he couldn’t tell the difference. I say go for it!!
Hi Mary – Awesome, thanks! I’ll show you the oar in person tomorrow! Can’t wait to see you my friend! Hugs, Holly
Looks natural. Perfect. Well done again.
Daaaaaaddddd…. I’m your daughter… everything I do is supposed to be perfect!!!!! 🙂 LYB, H.
Great idea and instructions. I love making stuff at home that I see in shops. We don’t have pottery barn over here in UK but we have anthropologie and I love a good anthropologie hack.
Hi Claire – Thanks so much for stopping by to share! I think between PB and Anthro… well… both hacks are tops! Hope to see you again soon and hugs across the pond. Holly
Holly, I much prefer yours to the Pottery Barn oar, even before I consider the price. You hit this one out of the park, you crafty girl, you!!! Can I place an order now? 🙂
Hi Susan – You are WAY too kind, but thank you – very much appreciated! Hugs, Holly
Hi, Holly. I don’t see any difference between yours and those from PB. Honestly, you are so talented. I think you should take a leap and market your wares! Rosie @ The Magic Hutch
Hi Rosie – Thank you for your supportive words! I’m little by little getting up the nerve to get rolling on this. Life is always an adventure, eh? Hugs, Holly
I love this! It is most definitely something you could sell. Stopping by from Best of the Weekend!
Hi Teri – Thank you for sharing your sweet comments! I hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
Holly, the oar is fabulous! I think it will sell quick on Etsy! It looks different from the original, but in a good way. (Warning: Im not an expert) I guess if you decide to do another, sand heavily before you put the stars on, you could even rub off a little of the blue paint while its tacky then lightly go back over and sand it after you apply the stars. Best of luck with the Breast Cancer Awareness, as that’s even more fabulous!
Hi Heather – Oh my goodness, you are too kind! Thank you for the advice, I actually touched it up a little more this weekend. And thank you for your kind words about the BC too. Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
Love it and a great tutorial too. Thanks for sharing this! I can’t justify spending that much for an ora at PB LOL
Hi Christine – You are too sweet, thank you! Hugs, Holly
Looks fantastic!!
Hi Amy – Thanks so much! Hugs, Holly
I like this. I keep watching for oars at garage sales and thrift stores to do something similar. I’m personally not a huge fan of the real chippy and faded looks and so am probably not the best judge of whether it would sell or not. But I do think there are enough people out there that love the look that doing more in estimation into selling them might be worthwhile. I hope this didn’t sound too negative.
On a similar note do you know anyone with a jigsaw? I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to cut out oar shapes either out of plywood or 1x pine. If they are being used as wall décor I’m thinking that as long as the shape is there you don’t need the full structural integrity of an actual oar. Just a though …
Hi Jeanne – Thank you for taking the time to share, I appreciate your comments! I do enjoy the “chippy” look, but it doesn’t fit into the style of how we have our house decorated. So I totally hear you. And cutting out oars from wood sounds like a brilliant idea! You are right that if they are used for decoration, they don’t need the structural integrity of an oar. Hugs, Holly
I love it! What a great deal you found, too. It was definitely worth the effort.
Hi Kim – You are such a sweetheart, thank you so much! Hugs, Holly
Love it. Your oar turned out great. I just picked up 3 and will have to give that a try now. Thanks for the inspirations.
Hi Becky – Thank you for stopping by to share your kind words. Very much appreciated! Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
totally AWE.SOME! what a great version. I really love it, you did great! I’ll be featuring you tonight on SYS, thanks so much for joining the party!
Hi Debra – Thank you soooo much for your kind feature and comments! Hugs, Holly
Holly, Your PB knock oar floats my boat! I have a set of PB oars that I bought on sale about 5 years ago but still paid way too much. Your DIY is wonderful 🙂
Sweet, sweet Mary – Thank you for your kind compliments! Happy 4th of July to you and yours! Hugs, Holly
I. LOVE. IT….
you did a beautiful copycat ….
Hi BJ – Too kind, thank you so much! Hugs, Holly
Your oar turned out great! What a fun piece to decorate with, especially during the summer. Please come share your blog posts over at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’d love to have you for a visit. The Door Opens Friday! 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Hi Lorelai – Thank you so much for your kind words and invitation! Happy 4th of July! Hugs, Holly
I’m a little late getting my comments out! I featured your fab oar today on the blog and social media! Thanks so much for pinning to the P3Party Board! Happy Weekend!
Kim
Hi Kim – Woo hoo!!! Thank you so much for the awesome feature, what an honor! Happy 4th of July to you! Hugs, Holly
This looks great– I have the Pottery Barn set…. and yours are spot on ! Now that I have become addicted to Pintrest , I never buy anything without checking it first. Don’t second guess yourself, you could totally sell this. Maybe start with renting a table or booth at a local festival or flea market just to test the waters . Sometimes shipping large things like the oar can be really expensive.
Again, great job and easy tutorial— I’m passing it on to all my PB oar admirers .
Hi Marilyn – You are so sweet, thank you for your kind words of support! Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
Truthfully, I like yours better than PB … you did a fantastic job!
Hi Elizabeth – Thank you so much for taking the time to share your kind words! Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
You did a fantastic job! I can’t tell which one is the PB oar. Beautiful work!
Hi Amy – Thank you so much! Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
The oar looks great. I would buy it .
Have a great day.
Hi Pamela – Thanks so much for taking the time to share your kind words. I hope to see you again soon. Hugs, Holly
Wow! What an amazing copy! I just wanted to say that I think your copy is much better than what’s on etsy.
Hi Leanna – With compliments like those, please feel free to stop by and say hello every day! Thank you so much for your kind words and I hope to see you again soon! Hugs, Holly
I love decorating with pieces like this! I think you could totally sell it on Etsy. Shipping might be a bit of a pain, but I’m sure you could figure it out.
Hi Cat – Thank you for your support! I figure, I can’t be the first person to ever ship an oar, right?!?!? Hugs, Holly