The theme for this year for our section was scarecrows.  So I decided i needed platforms to put the scarecrows on. Two different styles were built. First, a smaller 2ft x 2ft square platform, or varying heights to place dummies on. Second, a larger 3ft x 3ft platform for scare actors to stand on top off.

In order to be able to reuse them for the coming years, they also had to be able to be easily taken apart for storage.

We tried to use as much "reclaimed" wood as possible, so we found a friend who let us take his discarded pallets.  We first tore them apart and then cut them to uniform sizes.  In addition, we had OSB laying around, and MDF which was given to us.  Then a few pieces of wood had to be purchased new.

With all this in hand, we started by staining them with a rust mixture.  I took steel wool and soaked it in vinegar until it rusted and broke down. 

Then I brushed it over the new wood to get it looking dirty.

Since a lot of the wood was reclaimed from pallets it was pretty dirty looking already, so a coat of satin-touch spar urethane was put over all the pieces to seal in their natural grunginess.

All the square platforms were painted with a coat of grey primer

The top platforms and the sides were screwed together

To keep the legs removable, we used bolts.

Finally, the crosses were bolted to the back to hang the scarecrows from

We also added "slats" to the front and back.

Then the scarecrows were tied with rope to them

As a side note, the larger platforms were made just tall enough to hide my speakers underneath