This is my first Instructable, so be gentle. It amounts to this: at work one fine morning, I was taking a gander at a drywall pallet, that had some mighty fine logs to it. I thought to myself, well golly, I could make something with that! Voila, one evening later, I had a simple potrack. I posted this once on Craftster, but am thinking this may be a better venue for this sort of project.

Step 1: Aquire a Log

Any appealing peice of wood will work. I aquired mine from the bottom of a drywall pallet, so the cost was nil. When looking for wood, be sure to keep in mind how much space you have for hanging your pot rack.

Step 2: Sand the Wood

It will be important to have the right grain of sandpaper here. I found that if the grain was too fine, it was taking forever. I wanted kind of a rustic look anyway, so for me, I wasn't going for baby-bottom smooth, I was mostly just prepping for the stain. Once you have sanded it down, make sure you wipe it nice and clean with a cloth.

Step 3: Stain the Wood

This is the easy part. I wiped on the stain with the leg from an old pair of sweatpants. I also discovered that stain does not go bad - this can was at least 25 years old, and I found it in my basement.

Step 4: Spray Finish the Wood

A simple can of spray finish (apply it in quick strokes, or you'll end up with hard, dried up droplets if it runs) makes the log all purty-shiney-like. Yeehaw!

Step 5: Add Hooks and Hang

Add hooks to your log, as well a couple of chains, and you are ready to hang your new pot rack. I spent about $16 on hooks and chain, but if you are lucky, you don't live in the middle of nowhere like I do and can get them for less.

That's it. Any comments on how to improve this Instructable are greatly appreciated.