I’ve been working on a gallery wall for what seems like forever and I’m still not finished. I’m slowly getting to the finish line, but I still have a little ways to go. Part of my problem is finding interesting things to fill my wall with. So of course, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and found lots of DIY wooden arrow tutorials that spoke to me. I’ve always liked the look of rustic arrows on the wall and decided to make my own version.
Here are a few of my favorites that I drew inspiration from…
1. DIY Wooden Arrow on SNAP! 2. Reclaimed Wood: DIY Wooden Arrow on Little Brick House 3. How to: Stylish Wooden Arrow Art on Curbly
Here is a picture of my stair wall and starting point. You’ll see that I have my DIY Duck Tape Wall Tree to the left of my paper templates. Of course, it looks nothing like this now and I must have changed the layout a thousand times. Mostly because I wanted to incorporate a larger wooden arrow…lol.
DIY Wooden Arrow
Supplies:
- 1″ x 3″ wood (I used leftover scraps from another project)
- painter’s tape
- acrylic paint in your chosen color
- pencil
- Sharpie paint pen in your chosen color or chalk
- sand paper or palm sander
- tack cloth
- old rags, paper towels, or sponge brushes
- wood glue
- wood stain
- table saw or saw/miter box
- two saw tooth picture hangers
DIY Wood Arrow
Directions
I forgot to take pictures of the first couple of steps, but the first steps are pretty easy.
1. Decide what length you want your arrow shaft and cut the 1″ x 3″ wood to size.
2. Decide how big you want your point and fletching (the back of the arrow) to be and cut to size. Here is where you use 45 degree angle cuts and are basically making two arrow points.
3. Using wood glue, glue your arrow point and fletching together. Set aside to dry.
4. Once the arrow pieces are dry, take the point and place it on one end of the arrow shaft and take a pencil to draw the arrow angles. Use a table saw and cut on these lines. Glue the arrow point onto these cuts. Set aside and let dry.
5. Glue arrow fletching on top of the arrow shaft. Set aside and let dry.
6. Once the arrow is assembled, sand the entire piece. Wipe down with a tack cloth.
6. Tape off a center stripe on the arrow shaft and the point of the fletching.
7. Stain the center stripe until you get the desired color you want. Set aside and let dry. Remove tape. *I used an old rag to apply the stain, but you could use a sponge brush or paper towels.*
8. Tape off the stained stripe in the center. Make sure to press down the tape edges to get a good seal.
9. Apply acrylic paint with a rag and quickly wipe off any excess for a sheer look. This will allow the wood grain to peek through the paint. *For an opaque paint look, use a sponge brush.* Set aside and let dry.
If you’re satisfied with your arrow, you can stop here and place the saw tooth hangers on the backside of the arrow and hang on the wall. I chose to place a saying on the stripe – “follow your arrow wherever it goes”. I just love that saying. In fact, I first heard that saying from a song on a CMT music special with Katy Perry and Kacey Musgrave 🙂 They were singing “Follow your arrow” and I totally fell in love with it and knew it would be perfect for my arrow.
10. Write your saying on the stripe with either a Sharpie paint pen or chalk. *I chose chalk because I may decide to change this AND I’m not sure what color paint to use for the saying.*
11. Place the saw tooth hangers on the back and hang.
There’s a sneak peek at the wall progress with my new blue arrow. What do you think? Should I keep the chalk writing or paint it with a white or black Sharpie paint pen? There will be a black frame where the white paper is place and I’m not sure if I’ll be changing out the stained wooden piece below with some dark bronze candle sconces. I would love some feedback.
What fantastic idea, so simple yet so fun and I know my daughters will love to create these to add to their walls in their bedrooms.
Thank you so much for the idea, my daughters and I will be creating these this weekend!
Super cute project! I can’t wait to see your final gallery! Thanks so much for linking up at the Home Matters Linky Party, Erlene! Please feel free to stop by again this coming Wednesday and link up again!
Hi Kristen, thanks for stopping over. I thought I’d have this wall done by now, but I’m not satisfied with it. It’s still a work in progress.
I love your arrow! Totally inspiring me to make a Hunger Games themed one for my 12 y/o! She loves everything Hunger Games, and started archery last year, which she has wanted to do since she first saw Mulan, The Chronicles of Narnia and then The Hunger Games sealed that deal. Awesome! Thank you. Visiting from the Home Matters Linky 😀
The arrow is super cute and I can’t wait to see the entire wall! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Great idea! Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
I am a huge fan of arrows! Too cute! Thanks for linkin to Sunday FUNday!
Thanks Kristine for stopping by & hosting the party.
So fun! Thanks so much for stopping by Creative Spark Link Party. Hope you stop by today and link up again.
Oh I just love the arrows – I want to make some for my home. Thanks for linking up to The Creative Exchange Linky Party!
So cute! Love it! Thanks for sharing on Worthwhile Wednesdays!
~Allie http://thecraftiestallie.blogspot.com/
I love the saying you chose for the arrow! What a perfect addition to your gallery wall. Thanks for sharing on Hump Day Happenings!
What a cool project! Pinned. We love having you be a part of our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
Ooo this is so cool, I love it. I really like the fact you have written in chalk so you can change it, what a good idea.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I wrote it in chalk because I’m being indecisive at the moment…lol.
Stopping by from Frugal Crafty Home link party. This is great! I would love this in my wall gallery 🙂
Thanks so much Melinda for the great party and stopping by. It’s always such a great feeling to know that someone else likes one of my projects.
Love how this turned out! Especially love the quote written in the middle – never would have thought to put that there!
Hi Erlene! I’m stopping over from Let’s Get Real today. Your arrow is really cute! You are right. There are arrows everywhere in decorating right now. I hadn’t really noticed till you pointed it out. Putting a saying on it is a really great idea.
These arrows looks awesome.Thank you for sharing !!
Looks great! Can’t wait to see the finished project 🙂
Have a beautiful weekend 🙂
Stopping by from Crafty Thursday Obsessions link party. Love love love this! This would look great on my wall gallery 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Melinda. I appreciate you stopping by.
These are so cute! I can dream up just about a thousand different ways to use them to decorate. I really want to make some now. Thank you for sharing!
Thank Morgan. I love arrows too and plan on making more. Thanks for stopping by.
This is so cute! I want to do a similar light up arrow for my son’s room but I don’t know what to write on it yet. I like your saying so I may have to borrow that, lol.
I wanted to light this up too, but I don’t have an outlet on my staircase. Maybe I’ll make another one? BTW- I stole the saying from a song, so I totally don’t mind you using it 🙂
I love this! I am planning to do a gallery wall in my next house, and I love the look of these wooden arrows.
Aren’t arrows so fun. I’d love to see your gallery wall when you get it done.