Wood Snowflake Decoration Made From Wood Shims

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Square feature of a wood snowflake decoration sitting on a chair on top of a basket of birch logs and pinecones with a clear glass vase of willows on the side.

This wood snowflake decoration is an easy winter project made with inexpensive wood shims and basic hardware-store supplies. It creates a large, lightweight piece that works well beyond the Christmas season.

Finished, it measures about twelve inches across and looks great on a mantel, porch, front door, or even as simple decor for a winter wedding or event.

This snowflake is designed for indoor use, but it can be adapted for outdoor display with a few small material changes.

Decorative Wood Snowflake DIY – Video

YouTube video

Supplies

Photo of the supplies used to make a wood snowflake decoration.
  • 12-inch Wood shims (can use 8 inches though)
  • Wood glue
  • Craft clamps
  • Paint (I’m using white chalk paint and silver acrylic paint as an accent color)
  • A chip brush
  • A ruler and pencil
  • A sanding block (optional)
  • A vise and a small hand saw

How to Make a Decorative Wood Snowflake – 4 Easy Steps

STEP 1:

Overlap and glue four 12-inch wood shims together at the center with wood glue. If your snowflake will be an outdoor piece use Silicone Caulk adhesive.

Glue four shims together at the center as a base for your snowflake.
Glue four 12-inch wood shims together at the center.

STEP 2:

Use a ruler and mark each shim at the 3-inch point. You’ll need sixteen 3-inch pieces to complete the snowflake design.

Cut wood shims using a handsaw and vice. Don’t worry if your pieces are a little rough; you can lightly sand the edges if needed.

Measure and cut smaller pieces to make your snowflake 3-inches long.
Measure and mark 3-inch pieces.
Secure your wood shim in a vice to grip and use a handsaw to cut 3-inch pieces.
Use a handsaw and a vice to cut sixteen 3-inch shim pieces.

STEP 3:

Use a generous amount of wood glue to glue the smaller pieces in place, as shown below. There are ‘V’ shapes on four of the ends, and I used one cross piece on the other four ends of my snowflake. To finish the design, I added four more pieces to make a ‘+’ in the middle. Check out the video above.

Photo of snowflake after wood gluing all the pieces on.
Assemble the pieces as shown and glue in place.

STEP 4:

Place a heavy object on your snowflake while drying and use craft clamps where needed.

Add clamps as needed while the glue dries.

Once the glue has dried (about 2 hours), you can paint your snowflake and glue a string to the back if you’d like to hang it up.

Photo of a large 12-inch handmade decorative wood snowflake on a wood chair, sitting on a tobacco basket filled with birch logs and frosted pine cones with a vase of pussy willow to the side. This image is a vertical, pinnable image. Please pin this photo to your Pinterest craft boards to come back to this easy DIY tutorial later!
Star divider used has two hand drawn lines with a star in the center, used as a content break and signals new or different content below. This doodle style illustration is in a medium charcoal gray.

– MORE TO EXPLORE –

Tiny Wooden Houses DIY + Woodland Felt Animals + No Water Snow Globe

Square feature photo of finished tiny wooden houses painted and on on a wood shelf. There are three shelves shown. The houses are painted dusty gues, greens, white and ivory. Each with dark gray roofs sprinkled with white glitter for a snowy effect. Beside some houses is a cluster of bottle brush trees.
Removing the paper backing from felt pattern pieces after cutting all of them out.
DIY snow globe feature image shows a small snow globe of mini bottle spruce bottle brush trees in a mini bowl dome with a wood slice as a base. Behind this featured globe is one made with a round clear plastic ornament and a wood slice with a 3 inch snowman ornament inside.
Square feature photo of finished tiny wooden houses painted and on on a wood shelf. There are three shelves shown. The houses are painted dusty gues, greens, white and ivory. Each with dark gray roofs sprinkled with white glitter for a snowy effect. Beside some houses is a cluster of bottle brush trees.
Tiny Wooden Houses DIY
Removing the paper backing from felt pattern pieces after cutting all of them out.
Woodland Felt Animals
DIY snow globe feature image shows a small snow globe of mini bottle spruce bottle brush trees in a mini bowl dome with a wood slice as a base. Behind this featured globe is one made with a round clear plastic ornament and a wood slice with a 3 inch snowman ornament inside.
No Water Snow Globe

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