I love the look of carved wood wall art and flower medallion panels. But do I love the thought of actually carving the wood to make them? Well, not so much. And there lies the challenge: how can you create DIY wall decor with the look of carved wood– without actually carving wood?
I can’t wait to show you.
By using the free patterns and the step by step instructions below, you can make any of these DIY white wood wall decor panels…
…without ever using a saw.
They can be customized with any color of paint, embellished with beads, capiz shells, or glass mosaic bits, or…
…you can leave them solid white for an understated look.
No matter how you decorate them, they add texture and style to any space.
The secret for making them involves using inexpensive wood panels covered with a layer of Creative Paperclay. This amazing clay can be cut into any design that you like, and then when you’re done, the clay will air-dry and solidify into a hard, sturdy surface. Add a little paint or embellish with some mosaic accents, and you’ve got gorgeous, hand-crafted wall decor that doesn’t cost a fortune. And doesn’t involve a saw.
Keep scrolling for step by step instructions and free pattern downloads.
supplies
- Creative Paperclay or other good quality brand of paper clay
- drawing pencil with a soft lead (such as an ebony pencil OR a 4B, 5B, or 6B drawing pencil)
- free patterns (DESIGN 1 and DESIGN 2)
- tool for cutting (such as an old X-Acto knife, hobby knife, or clay “clean up” tool)
- non-stick surface (or use wax paper or parchment paper)
- small rolling pin or thick wood dowel
- birch wood panels ( two 10 inch square wood panels, and two 18 inch square wood panels)
- Aleene’s Tacky Glue or other good quality craft glue
- Gorilla clear epoxy adhesive
- 2 birch wood furniture buttons
- paint
step 1: DOWNLOAD & trace over the patterns
First download the patterns–DESIGN 1 and DESIGN 2. Print them on normal copy paper, checking to make sure your printer is set to print at 100% scale. Otherwise the patterns may end up printing out too small.
Next cut the patterns out using scissors. Each design has a right side and a left side. Use tape to connect the two sides of each design together.
Then use a drawing pencil with a soft lead to trace over the lines of each pattern. I used a 6B drawing pencil, but a 5B, a 4B or an Ebony pencil will also work. These pencil outlines will get transferred to the clay in Step 4, giving you a guide for cutting out the design. Pencils with a softer lead will leave darker (and easier to see) outlines on the clay.
In a pinch, you can try a regular #2 pencil for outlining–you’ll just need to press very hard and make sure your outlines are slick and shiny. The lines may not transfer to the clay as visibly as a 6B pencil.
step 2: roll out the clay
Now remove the paper clay from the package. Use a rolling pin or thick wood dowel to roll out the clay onto a non-stick surface. (You can also roll out the clay on wax paper or parchment paper.) When the clay has been flattened to about 1/4 inch thick, you’re ready for the next step.
step 3: cut clay to fit
Lift the clay off the non-stick surface, and place it on top of the wood panel. Use the back of a knife (or other tool with a firm edge) to trim away excess clay from the sides so that the clay matches the size of the square wood panel top.
Place the clay remnants inside a resealable bag or container.
step 4: transfer pattern to clay
Now you are ready to transfer the pattern onto the clay.
Place the pattern face down on top of the clay-covered wood panel. Use the palms of your hands and fingers to smooth and gently press down on the paper. The pressure will cause the pattern to stick to the damp clay, and those pencil lines should then transfer from the paper onto the moist surface.
If the clay is too dry, it will not be sticky enough for the pencil marks to adhere to it. If this happens, you can dip your fingers in a small dish of water, and rub over the surface to moisten it again.
When you lift up the paper pattern, you should see faint lines where the pencil marks have adhered to the clay.
Pull away the paper pattern and check to see how well the rest of the pencil lines have transferred.
If there are any places where the pencil markings did not adhere well to the clay, here’s how to fix. Go back to the paper pattern and use scissors to cut out sections of the design. Then position those paper patterns on the areas of the clay where the pencil lines are too faint to see. (see photo below)
step 5: cut the design
Now you can start carving the clay. Clay is soft, so it cuts easily. You can use a variety of things to cut it — a craft knife, an old X-Acto knife, or a cutting tool from an inexpensive clay tool set like this one.
The pointed tip on a craft knife is helpful for getting into tight corners.
It also helps to lift away any pieces of clay that you want to remove from the design.
When all the excess clay is carved away, your wood panel art will look like the one below. Don’t worry if any of the edges of the clay design look a little ragged or rough. After the clay dries and hardens, you can use a little sandpaper to make those cut edges smooth.
Take the left over clay scraps and mix them together with the other scraps from Step 3. Then place inside a resealable bag or airtight container so that the left over clay will stay soft. If your Creative Paperclay ever becomes dry, add a little water and knead it into the clay to make it soft and pliable again.
Left over clay can be used for other paper clay projects.
step 6: dry, glue, and sand
Paper clay will shrink slightly as the moisture evaporates from it. You may see some of the clay pieces begin to migrate away from the edges of the wood panel as the clay dries. When completely dry, the outer edges of the pieces will be about 1/4 inch smaller than they were when the clay was damp.
You may also notice the tips or edges of a few pieces begin to curl up slightly as the clay dries. If this happens, just place a piece of wax paper or parchment paper over the top of the design along with a book or magazine on top to add enough weight to press the clay back down. When the shapes have flattened back into place, you can remove the weight.
After about 24 hours, at room temperature, the clay should feel about 50% dry (or even drier). When the pieces reach the point where they feel fairly stiff and will not lose their shape when picked up, you can glue them down to the wood panel.
Use a good quality craft glue like Aleene’s Tacky Glue to attach the clay cut-outs to the wood.
Now let the clay dry and harden completely.
Drying time will vary depending upon temperature and humidity. At room temperature, under normal conditions, it can take 2 or more days for the clay to dry and harden completely.
Once the carved design is dry, use a sheet of 220 or 320 grit sandpaper to smooth over any rough edges. You can fold a small section of sandpaper into a pointed tip to get into corners and hard to reach spots.
If there are any gaps where the bottom edges of the clay pieces are not resting completely flat against the surface of wood panel, you can patch and fill in those gaps with more damp paper clay from the package.
step 7: paint base color
Once the dried clay design has been sanded and the edges are smooth, it’s time to get out the paint.
For best results, use two coats of paint, and sand in between coats. After the first coat of paint, you may see the fibers of the birch wood panel raising slightly after the wood grain comes into contact with the wet paint. That can give your surface a rough look. As soon as the paint dries, sand with a 220 or 320 grit sandpaper to make the surface smooth again.
Then add a second paint coat.
A brush works for applying the paint, but if you happen to have a paint sprayer lying around in your garage, it gets the job done super fast and will give you even coverage.
For the small round button shape in the center of the flower petals, I used one of these pre-cut wood button shapes.
step 8: make the second panel
Make the second carved panel the same as the first, using this pattern.
step 9: add a frame border
To make an easy frame and border around each 10 inch carved wood square that you made in the steps above, use an 18 inch square birch wood panel. Flip the 18 inch panel over to the back side so that it looks like a tray. Paint it white to match the 10 inch carved wood panel. Then use a strong adhesive like Gorilla clear epoxy to attach the 10 inch panel to the center of the 18 inch panel.
Add a sawtooth hanger to the back of your carved wall art, and it’s ready to hang on the wall.
optional ideas for decorating the wood panels
These beautiful carved wood panels are easy to customize. You can paint them gray and then whitewash them to get a distressed and weathered look. Or, accent with silver seed beads to make wall art with a little sparkle.
Small bits of capiz shells, mother of pearl, or glass mosaic stones also look beautiful. Get your creative spirit going and have fun!
artUcreate is an Etsy, Michael’s, and Amazon Associates LLC affiliate.
