This Scrap Wood Art Tells Your Family Story

Tell your story with this unique scrap wood art! Use your favorite graphics from places you’ve visited or lived. Very easy to make!

Skills Required: Intermediate. You’ll potentially be cutting wood to fit a backer board, so you should have some experience with tools. You should also have experience with Mod Podge so you can attach to wood pieces without wrinkles.

For better or worse, producing the coasters, HOME signs, and other decor items for my business Cheltenham Road creates a lot of scrap wood. I do my best to use every piece but sometimes the random bits pile up.

While perusing a Pottery Barn catalog the other day I saw this piece of wall art:

and being me, rather than thinking “I should buy that!” I totally thought, “I should make that with all the scrap wood!”

I let the idea bounce around in my brain (there’s space) and it kind of morphed into making a piece of dimensional wood art that reflects the places I’d called home over the years – New York, Ohio, California, etc.

You may be thinking, “that’s nice for you David, but I don’t have piles of wood scraps lying around.” But I assure you, a quick trip to Home Depot and their leftover lumber pile would provide you with all the pieces for this scrap wood craft project for just a few bucks.

I started off with a backer board that measured 26″ x 10″, then just played around with random pieces of wood until I found an arrangement that appealed. Here is what I ended up with:

Gather These Supplies

• Backer board size of your choice (mine is 26″ x 10″)
• Random bits of plywood of various shapes
• Smaller scrap wood pieces to use as risers
• 1″ square dowels: two measuring 28″ long and two measuring 10″ long (for the frame)
• Graphics
• Screws
• White paint
• Mod Podge!
• Wood glue

Tools Used

• Electric drill
• Electric sander (sandpaper and elbow grease would also be fine)
• Saw (I had to trim a couple of the pieces of wood for the framing dowels)
• Sharp craft knife
• Paintbrushes

Get the printable how to for this unique project below:

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4.94 from 43 votes

Wood Scrap Art

Learn how to make scrap wood wall art the easy way! Commemorate with your favorite images.

Prep Time1 hour hr

Active Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Dry Time2 hours hrs

Total Time5 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Yield: 1 piece

Cost: $10

Equipment

• Table saw
• Drill and drill bits
• Sander
• Craft knife
• Paintbrush(es)
• Computer and printer
• Pen or pencil

Materials

• Wood backer board 26" x 10"
• Plywood random scraps
• Scrap pieces of wood for risers
• 4 1" square dowels 2 (28") and 2 (10")
• Graphics of your choice
• Wood screws
• Craft paint white
• Mod Podge
• Wood glue

Instructions

• Cut the backer board to size, as well as the scrap wood pieces to exactly fit the board. Arrange to make sure the pieces fit.
  
• Print out graphics to fit each piece of scrap wood. My graphics are just old postcards, maps and even a quick internet download of the poster from my favorite movie. Trim to fit.
• Decoupage the graphics onto the wood blocks, one by one. Add Mod Podge to the wood, smooth down the paper on top, and let dry for 15 – 20 minutes. Then apply a top coat and let dry. Repeat and let dry completely.
• Distress edges of the blocks with a sander, gently.
  
• Reassemble the design on the backer board. Leave flat or place wood pieces as risers under some pieces for interest.
  
• Use wood glue to attach all pieces, including the risers, to the backer. Let dry overnight.
• For the frame, I decided that I wanted a basic, rustic look. You will create simple butt joints. Grab the square dowel rods and mark where the pilot holes should go at the end of each piece.
  
• Drill the pilot holes (these will prevent the dowel from splitting while screwing. Then attach the dowel pieces to the frame using the wood screws.
  
• Paint the frame with white paint and let dry before hanging or displaying.
  

Notes

As with all my projects, once it’s done I think of a million different options.

• I used plywood because that’s what I had on hand. Anything sturdy would work for the graphics, even mat board or foam core.
• This might be cool to do for a child – to show their life. You could use photos, report cards, school projects/drawings, favorite book covers (all laser copies of course). It would also be very meaningful Father’s Day gift.
• I left the edges of my graphic panels unpainted. They might look nice painted black – just to emphasize the dimensionality a bit more.
• If you don’t want to deal with as much sawing of wood, you could design the pieces to overlap.
• Ideally you can print the graphics on a laserjet printer. But if you only have inkjet, print them out and spray both sides with a clear acrylic sealer or hairspray. Let dry overnight before decoupaging.

If you have any questions about this scrap wood art, leave me a comment! I’d also love for you to check out the following projects:

DIY Coffee Bar Sign • Dollar Tree Wall Art • Farmhouse Wall Decor • Magazine Collage • Map Canvas Art • Photo Wall Collage • Plastic Animal Canvases • Ticket Wall Decor • Watercolor Collage