Weekend Project - Feather Wall Art

Home Ideas Magazine - March 2019

MARCH 2019 WEEKEND PROJECT

“Feather Wall Art"

Contributed by: Annette Amdahl

Time: 2 hours

Cost: $10

Difficulty: Low

Materials:

1"x1"x3' long piece of wood

1" thick scrap wood

Can be any width

Lengths vary 3"-12"

Plywood board 1/2"x 4"x3' long

Paint (optional)

Wood stain (optional)

Tools:

Miter saw

Sanding block

Paintbrushes

Stain rags

Brad nailer

1" brad nails

Collect your wood pieces

This project is a great way to use up all those scrap wood pieces you might have laying around (see image 1). If you don't have scrap wood, it's suggested to buy six-foot-long 1" x 2"-5" wide boards to use for this project. Planning ahead, you might be able to make two matching feathers to hang side-by-side.

Add a matching angle to the side pieces

Set your miter saw at a 27-degree angle and cut off one end of each of your scrap wood pieces (see image 2).

Cut your middle piece to size

The size of this project varies based on the size of your middle connecting piece. For this example, the middle piece is approximately 3' long and 1"x1" in width and thickness. Lay your middle piece down on your workbench so you can start roughly laying out your side pieces.

Lay out your side pieces

On both the left and right side of your middle piece, start laying out your scrap wood pieces on each side with the 27-degree angle touching the middle piece. Play around with how all of your pieces look. Try and keep the shorter pieces at the top and bottom and longer pieces in the middle (see image 3).

Draw your outside cut lines

Using a pen and ruler (or extra longer board you have lying around), start drawing on the outside of each of the side pieces, approximately where you want to cut the excess on the edges off at (see image 4). 

Cut the second edge of your side pieces

To do this project and to keep the pieces in order, take the side pieces (that now have a cut mark on them) one by one to your miter saw. Since most of these cuts will be custom, simply move the angle of your miter saw to match your cut line and cut away. Do this for all the side pieces. Once the cuts have been made, roughly lay them back in place (see image 5).

Finish the piece (optional)

If you used scrap wood for this piece, chances are, the natural variations in colors of the wood like in this example look great enough without any paint or stain. But if you are creating this piece with brand new pieces of wood, you can easily add a paint or wood stain finish to the boards at this step before you start nailing anything together in the following steps.

Cut your brace board

The back brace of the feather is made from your plywood piece on the cut list. Lay the plywood piece down on the roughly laid out middle and side pieces and mark some cut lines on it to cut away the excess so it doesn't show from the back when the piece is mounted on the wall. Cut the board to size and nail it to the middle piece with your 1" brad nails (see image 6).

Attach your side pieces

Once your brace and middle piece are connected, flip it upside down and then flip your side pieces upside down and to the opposite side so they are now face up. Roughly lay them back in place on the brace where they will be nailed to permanently (see image 7). Nail all the side pieces to the overlapping brace piece that you can still see (see image 8).