Aged Wooden Boards -DIY backgrounds for food pictures

If you have been following my blog you will  be aware that I have been collecting old scrap wood to create a collection of backgrounds for my food photos. In my last post I shared how I used pva glue and acrylic paint to create some cracked finished wood  boards.In this post I am going to share how I created an aged wooden platform to use for my food photos.
I had recently visited a garden centre where I had managed to source some aged off cuts of old fencing that the garden centre had thrown away. I also goggled how to make inexpensive stain for the wood using wire wool and vinegar.Below is a tutorial of how I created my wooden board.

Materials:

For Board:

7 strips of wood approximately 18 x 6 inches.
Few  nails 1.5 cm long(depends on thickness of wood)
Hammer
Paint brush
Bin liner
Empty Jar
Hack saw
Sandpaper
Old rag
Rubber gloves

For Stain:

Wire wool
Vinegar

Method:

1. In a glass jar add the wire wool and top it up fully with vinegar, place the lid and put the jar in the garage for 2 weeks.After two weeks open the jar in a well ventilated room ( the smell is very pungent) and you will notice that the wire wool has rusted and the vinegar has turned brown in to a stain.Strain the mixture into a clean jar and discard the rusted wire wool.

2. Cut the wood so that you have 7 pieces roughly the same length.They don't have to be cut  too perfect.

3.Place 5 pieces of the cut wood side by side as shown in diagram 1below and place the remaining two pieces horizontally as shown on diagram 2.

Diagram 1                          Diagram 2

4.Nail the  pieces 6 and 7  to the the pieces 1-5 as shown in diagram three with a grey dot. You may want to add a few extra nails to secure the pieces together.(Make sure the nails are not longer than the thickness of the wood.)

                                                                          Diagram 3

5. Using the sand paper sand away any splinters and wipe the wood with a damp cloth.
6. Place the bin liner on the floor and place the wooden board on it, using the brush paint the stain on both sides of the wooden board.To achieve a darker colour apply a second coat of stain after first coat is dry.I applied a single coat to one side of my board and a double coating on the other side so that I had two different finishes.
7. Leave the board to dry for 24 hours.

Finished Board top side

Here is a a picture showing this side of the board used in one of my photos.

Finished board bottom side

Here is a picture using the back this side of the same board in the photo below.

I am really pleased with my board as it has given me two different looks and finishes.