Craft Projects With Extra Laminate Flooring

As it's almost impossible to purchase the exact amount of laminate flooring you need, you may find yourself with some leftover planks after installing it. Keep a few planks aside in case you ever need to repair your floor, but consider using the rest for craft projects. Laminate flooring planks are very versatile as a craft supply -- you can paint, decoupage, drill, saw and glue them to create innumerable decorative and useful items.

Decoupage is essentially gluing paper cut-outs onto any surface, and with two smooth, flat surfaces, a laminate flooring plank works perfectly for decoupaged wall art. Cut shapes or letters from colored paper, or cut printed images and motifs from gift wrap, scrapbooking paper, newspapers, magazines, or old books to make your design. For photographic wall art, print digital photographs onto regular white paper and use them. Position the photographs in the middle of the plank and create decorative "frames" of colored paper around them. Arrange the paper cut-outs on the laminate plank before gluing them and remember the positions. When you are ready, paint white glue onto the plank, smooth the paper cut-outs onto the glue and wait for it to dry. Seal the paper with several coats of white glue, waiting for each coat to dry before applying the next. Spray acrylic sealer over the plank for a final, waterproof seal. If you saw the planks down into small squares and sand the edges, the same method can be used to make coasters. With coasters, finish with at least five or six coats of acrylic sealer and glue a cork tile to the underside.

If you have the tools and hardware to saw, screw and nail planks of laminate flooring, you can make all kinds of items that are useful around the home. A plank of flooring with a row of decorative knobs, hooks or pegs becomes a wall-mounted hanger for coats or keys. Glue rubber shelf liners, cork tiles or heavy felt fabric to the undersides of laminate flooring planks and use them as trivets or place mats. One long strip of conjoined planks is handy as a table runner-length trivet. To make a whimsical candle holder, glue a row of three ceramic saucers along a laminate flooring plank and place a tea light on each saucer. With some hinges and several flooring planks, or one cut into pieces, you can fashion a cookbook stand for the kitchen.

If you want to paint a laminate flooring plank, perhaps to make a wall hanging or yard sign, rub down the surface with sandpaper and paint a coat of primer over it first. If you are artistic, paint a design freehand; otherwise, use stencils and mark off sections with painter's tape to get straight lines. In addition to wall art and yard signs, you could use chalkboard paint to make old-fashioned "slates" for children to draw on; or you could paint a chess or backgammon board in the middle of a plank.

If you glue or nail some wooden stakes, dowels or metal spokes to one side of a laminate flooring plank you can insert it into the ground so that it is held upright. With this technique you can use rows of planks like fences in the garden to divide areas into planting beds, or to mark off a planter in a corner or up against a fence or wall. The planks can be moved around at will, and they may not weather or deteriorate as quickly as solid wood planks due to their resin content and protective outer layer.