Sunburst Scrap Wood Art Feature

Last summer we built a deck on our house and, of course, we had a ton of scraps left over.  My husband wanted to burn them but my crafty side convinced him to let me keep some of them for a project or two.  Here is what I came up with:

 Since I spend a TON of time in front of the computer in the office I wanted it to be a space that I don't mind hanging out in, so I painted it a bright, cheerful purple (which happens to be my favorite color!).  Most of the art work in the room is done in shades of sunny orange for a dynamic pop.  

I started the Sunburst Scrap Wood Art Feature by sanding the rough edges off each selected board.  Then I painted each board.  I used five shades of paint that I got from a local hardware store.  I bought the small test pots of color that the store offered for a few dollars so that I wouldn't have a ton of paint leftover.  

Then I laid out the design on a flat surface.  It was a nice day so I arranged everything outside.  I was going for an organic, sunburst shape but I knew I would need the boards in the center to tie everything together.  

Then I pulled out the drill (yay! power tools!) and screwed the boards together.  I started with the five larger boards, screwing the bottom four into the darker large board. Then I connected the rays to the larger boards from the back of the project.  (Note: I didn't want screw holes to be visible so I screwed most everything in from the bottom side.  Only the top two center boards were connected from the top of the project.)  When I got done I only had to fill in one visible screw hole in the center of the top board.  I filled it with wood putty, sanded, and painted to match so that it is barely visible.

The final step is to hang it on the wall.  Here is were some strong help comes in handy.  The finished project weighs approximately 50 lbs because I  was going for a big statement.  Getting it onto the wall was a bit tricky because it was a dispersed, unwieldy weight.  My husband graciously helped with this portion.  I affixed a picture wire to the back of the piece that can be used to hold up to 100 lbs (just to be safe)!  And I attached the hook into the wall with a screw into a stud so that it wouldn't rip the drywall down.

This feature makes me smile everyday when I see it!

Creativity is only limited by people, so look around your house and be inspired!