Lathe Heart Wall Hanging

I was given a bundle of lathe boards.  You know, the kind that live behind your walls in older homes?  I bet you don't give them a second thought do you?  Neither did I.  They were full of nails, but they came right out with no problem.

I chose 3 boards and marked them off at the center and cut them in half.

Next, I cut a couple of smaller pieces to attach to the back to hold it together.  I used Gorilla Glue to secure it.

Use some heavy stuff to pile on top until the glue sets.

On one side of the boards there was a worn white finish which I thought would be the perfect canvas for a rustic, shabby, pink heart.  The boards are not perfectly aligned which was partly on purpose and partly because I haven't quite mastered my circular saw, lol.  It doesn't matter much for this project because I was going for a rustic element anyway.

I started by just free-handing a heart shape using craft paint and a stencil brush.

Then I just filled it in and kept adding layers until it was the shade I wanted it to be.

I added a twine hangar to the backside with my staple gun and hung it beside my bed.  Love it.

I know there are so many uses for pallet wood and I've seen a lot of posts using paint stir sticks, but I'm loving these lathe boards - has anyone else used them?  Any other unusual wood sources you've used?  If someone hadn't thought to bring me these, I never would have thought about using them.