Today’s contributor is Lisa from Grey Luster Girl. All posts written by Lisa for Make It & Love It can be found HERE.
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Hello Make It and Love It Readers! Lisa from Grey Luster Girl here.
I know you are probably wondering why I am showing you a how to make a wood slice project. Hello?! Doesn’t this girl know that Christmas is over??? Well spring is actually the perfect time to make a wood slice project. As you are pruning your trees back this spring, gather up the branches to make this wood slice backdrop!
Isn’t it just gorgeous?! The different woods each have their own unique look and add interest to the backdrop as a piece of art in and of itself.
You can obviously use the wood slice backdrop as well, a backdrop. In fact, that is the primary reason that I made it. I am doing a hiking party and this rustic backdrop will be the crown jewel behind my trail mix bar.
But a backdrop isn’t the only thing you can use this for. It can also be a very unique piece of art. I put it on my fireplace mantel, and it’s a showstopper!
As you can tell from the fireplace picture, this wood slice backdrop is big and that is one of the reasons why it makes such a statement. Don’t let the size fool you, though, it is very easy to make once you have all your supplies together.
Supplies:
The hardest part about this project is getting the wood slices. A chainsaw is definitely the fastest way. Choose a variety of logs or branches and slice away. I made my slices about a half inch to 3/4 inch thick.
The dark slices of wood were made using a compound miter saw. Now be warned that the blade of my miter saw is very dull and that combined with some hard wood gave me a burn on the sides of the wood. If your miter saw is sharp or if you don’t have one, you could paint your wood slices to add the color difference to the wood slice backdrop.
Bake your wood slices in a 250 degree oven for 45 minutes to make sure they are nice and dry. This also helps kill any bugs.
Once the slices are all cut and baked, then the fun part comes. Start placing the wood slices onto the underlayment. I started with the biggest pieces and worked my way to the smallest. I also tried to distribute the dark wood slices around the board.
Just keep adding the wood slices. Harness your inner child and break out those Tetris skills.
Once you have all your pieces placed, it is go time. I mean glue time. Simply lift the wood pieces up one at a time and and apply the adhesive. The Construction Adhesive Gorilla Glue works well because you can still move the pieces around after they have been glued on. There were a few times when this came in very handy, especially towards the end. I would place a piece and then find a different wood slice that would work better in that spot and I could remove it and swap it out with a different slice.
As you are putting the slices on, take care not to glue any of the pieces so that they hang off the edge. Otherwise your backdrop won’t stand up straight.
Ahh! I am loving it! Not only is it stunning to look at but I get to enjoy the fresh cut wood scent for a little while. I know the scent won’t last forever but at least I will have a great backdrop to use throughout the different seasons long after the scent is gone!
-Lisa
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Are your walls just BEGGING for some attention? Here are a few more ideas to dress up those bare walls and give them a little love:
Dollar Store Burner Cover Wall art
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
