Last winter was a very wet one here in Northern California. The lake level was very high this last spring. As the water level receded over the last few months, the shoreline around the lake has become littered with loads and loads of driftwood.
As the hot summer months have worn on the sun has bleached it into a beautiful off-white sand color. What to do with this bounty from Mother Nature? I have been toying around with several ideas and finally decided to create a bold and dramatic driftwood sculpture for the house.
The finished size of the driftwood sculpture I made was 48 inches across but you can easily make one in any size you choose. It all depends on the lengths of driftwood you collect.
Supplies you will need to make this project:
- Driftwood, loads and loads of driftwood 200-300 pieces in varying lengths.
- Wrapping paper, pencil and string to make a paper template.
- Round wood piece, at least 12-18 inches in diameter for the base.
- Hot glue gun.
- Glue sticks (I used 30 glue sticks).
- Picture hanging hardware and wire.
I purchased a wood round, the picture hanging hardware and wire for $14 at my local hardware store, plus another $10 for glue sticks. The total cost of this project to make this sculpture was less than $25 dollars. Not bad for such an impressively large piece!
I recommend using a wood round for the base to hold it all together. I toyed with the idea of using a styrofoam round for the base but I wasn’t sure it would be strong enough. After carrying several heavy bags of driftwood pieces from the shore of the lake to the house I knew the finished piece was going to be quite heavy. I wanted to make sure the base would hold the piece together so I opted to go with wood instead of styrofoam for the base.
After you have collected various lengths of driftwood, sort them into sizes, long pieces, shorter medium sized pieces and smaller twisted, curly pieces. This will make it easier to find just the perfect sized piece you need when it comes time to start glueing everything together.
Lay out a few pieces of driftwood to determine how large you want to make your wreath. Using a pencil tied to a piece of string, roughly draw out a circle on a large piece of wrapping paper and cut it out. This will be your template and will help you line up the ends of the pieces of driftwood along the outside edge so that you achieve a nice even round sculpture.
Before you start to glue anything to the base, you want to attach the picture hanging hardware and wire to the back of the wood round. It is easier to do this now. Once you have glued all the driftwood pieces to the base the sculpture will be very heavy and bulky. Attaching the hardware to the back after you have made the piece will make it awkward and much more difficult to do.
Once you have securely attached the hanging hardware and wire, place the wood round at the center of the paper template you cut out. The wood round serves as the base of the sculpture. All the driftwood pieces will be attached to the wood round.
Begin glueing the longer pieces of driftwood to the wood base, lining up the outside ends with the edge of your paper template. The driftwood pieces will extend past the edge of the wooden base. This is only the first layer and you will have some gaps. Don’t worry too much about the gaps, you will be filling in the gaps with the following layers of driftwood.
Continue to fill in with shorter pieces, glueing them into place. Line up the pieces with the outer edge of your paper template. Be generous with the hot glue. You don’t want any of the driftwood pieces to come loose later on.
Once you have glued on the first layer of driftwood pieces, turn it over and add more glue to the edges of the wood base where the driftwood meets the edge. This is just a little added insurance to ensure the driftwood is securely attached to the base, and won’t come loose from the added weight from the subsequent layers of driftwood you will be adding to the piece.
Turn your piece back over and keep adding layers with shorter pieces of driftwood to fill in any of the sparser areas. Keep adding driftwood until you have filled in all the sparse areas and you are happy with how it is looking. The goal is to fill in the piece so that you can no longer see the round wooden base.
TIP: It’s easier to work on glueing together the sculpture if you can set it on a stool or a small table instead of working on the ground after you have the first layer glued on to the base and have the shape in place. Your knees and back will thank you!
Glue smaller twisted curly pieces of driftwood to the center to create some interest and dimension and hide the uneven ends at the center of your sculpture and any visible blobs of glue. Turn the pieces so they point up and out from the center and glue them into place. Take your time with this last step and play around with it. This is what will make your piece interesting and give it dimension, texture and unique character.
Once you are happy with how the piece looks, the final step is to hang your creation. The completed piece will be very heavy! Mine weighs in at a whopping 54 pounds!!!! You will want to make sure you either drill a heavy duty hook securely into a stud or use drywall anchors that will support the weight of the piece when hanging your sculpture on the wall.
Stand back and enjoy your unique creation!
I want to give a big shout out to my husband and sister in law who helped me collect and carry several heavy bags of driftwood from the shore of the lake back to the house! It would have taken me days and days to carry all the driftwood I needed for this project if I had to do it alone! You two were such a big help! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
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