Angel Wings DIY Carved Wood Sign
Hi friends! Cynthia here, hoping you’re all enjoying a (chilly but beautiful) Tuesday. I’m so excited to share this angel wings DIY wood sign project I just completed. Want to follow along with this wood carving tutorial? (Or maybe just grab the cut file?!) Then keep on reading!
Angel Wings DIY Carved Wood Sign
Okay, okay, I am warning you NOW. There are literally ga-billions of pictures in this wood carving tutorial.
Why? Um… I might have been just a wee bit obsessed with this project. Just a little. See, it’s the first carving project I completed using a drawing quite this complicated. I am obsessed with how it turned out. OBSESSED.
This project was actually pretty easy to knock out, and (even better!) it costs nothing since I used scrap wood.
I’ll break down this wood carving tutorial into relatively easy to follow steps if you want to do it, too.
Up first, gather your materials.
Materials Needed for the Angel Wings Sign
- A sign backer. I prefer to use scrap wood for this and have a whole tutorial to help you get started. Or, if you want, you can grab a blank wooden sign on Amazon for pretty cheap.
- Wood carving tool. I used my Inventables x-carve for this project, which made it super easy and fast. You can definitely carve a wooden sign with a Dremel, too. I have a tutorial for carving by hand with a Dremel right over here.
- Cut file. If you’re using a cutting machine, like an x-carve, you can grab the cutting file right here.
- Bits. For this project, I used a 60-degree v-bit from Inventables.
- Stain. I always use Minwax Provincial. I just love it.
- Paint. I used oops latex paint that I bought at Home Depot in a bright white shade. So cheap!
- Sanding paper. I used 120 grit paper.
- Sander. I used my little Ryobi corner sander for this project.
Step 1: Get or Make Your Sign Backer
To kick off this project, you need to have a backer on which to carve.
Like I said above, for this project, I actually used scrap wood to create a custom-sized backer. I wanted the overall look of the project to have a rustic, kind of farmhouse feel to it. So a planked wooden sign was the perfect way to start this project.
Plus, when you’re using scrap wood, the cost is free, free, free.
If you have scraps lying around your garage, use them up for this project. Otherwise, cut down a wide board or buy a blank wood sign to get started. Easy!
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Step 2: Load the Cut File into Easel
If you’re using an x-carve, you can grab the cut file in the Easel sandbox. Be sure that you save it under a new project name to get it into your Easel account.
In Easel, the angel wings DIY project looks like this:
You’ll want to do a few things. First, edit the size of your project so that you have the correct length, width, and thickness of your backer.
Second, put in the type of material you’re using. In this project, I used pine. Easel doesn’t actually have pine as an option for wood. So I picked another wood to mimic how pine would carve.
Third, you’ll need to select your bit. Now, I have an Easel pro account (and totally recommend it!) so I am able to choose v-bits. For this project, I used a 60-degree v-bit that cuts great lines.
Fourth, set the depth of your carve. I kept this carve pretty shallow (a few millimeters) since I knew the stain would pop the carve from the wood backer.
Step 3: Carve!
OMG, this part is so so fun. I honestly end up just standing at my x-carve and watching while it carves. I love this angel wings DIY and think it turned out SO pretty.
I’m legitimately still blown away that I built this machine myself. (Which really just goes to prove that YES anyone can build this.)
This carve took under an hour – about 45 minutes if I recall correctly.
The carve did vary slightly with the different depths of wooden planks. I knew that the final project would have a rustic, kinda uneven feel to it. Ultimately I embraced that!
In the future, I might be tempted to carve this with a 30-degree v-bit to get a cleaner more artistic feel. And I’d be curious to see what it would look like if carved into wood that wasn’t planked.
Hint: if you carve it, ping me on Instagram so I can see!!
Step 4: Add Some Finish to Your Angel Wings!
Okay, this might have actually been the trickiest step for the whole project.
I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to apply water-based stain over latex paint. If the stain would soak into the carve. Or if the stain would color the latex too much.
I’m actually going to write a whole post in the future about using stain over latex since I had to google this for LITERALLY HOURS to get the answers I needed.
But the shorter answer: yes, you can do it. Just get ready to wipe off the stain. FAST.
I’ll include lots of more tips soon. Pinkie swear.
Wrapping this Angel Wings DIY UP!
Alright, yall. This was another long tutorial with literally heaps and buckets of photos. I really hope it was helpful for you!
As I emphasize pretty much EVERY SINGLE CARVE I complete, I am learning every single step of the way. And you know what? I continue to be in absolute awe of what I am able to accomplish.
Sure, having the x-carve makes the carves faster. But you definitely can get into woodcarving by hand with a Dremel and still impress yourself (and your friends LOL. I started by making a sign for my best friend as my very first project.)
Keep trying new things every single step of the way. It’s amazing how learning accumulates!
Pop a comment below or say hey on Instagram. And, as always, thank you for supporting this website and my creativity.
Lots of love from my house to yours,
Cynthia
