August DIY Challenge – DIY Driftwood Sailboat

Welcome to the August DIY Challenge, hosted by Terrie at Decorate and More with Tip. (You can see my past DIY Challenges here.) This month we were challenged to make some sort of DIY using a Dowel Rod. I have been wanting to make one of these driftwood sailboats I have seen on Etsy. Now was as good a chance as any. So without further ado here is how I made my DIY Driftwood Sailboat.

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Materials Used – DIY Driftwood Sailboat…

A nice piece of Driftwood
Dowel Rod
Fabric of your liking
Glue Gun
Twine


Step 1 – DIY Driftwood Sailboat – Drill a hole into the driftwood and cut your dowel down to size….

First you need to find a nice piece of driftwood at the beach, or you can buy a piece on Amazon. Then, drill a hole into the driftwood and cut your dowel down to size. I had my husband drill the hole. As you can see from the picture below, this piece of driftwood was around 15 inches long. He drilled the hole right in the center of the wood, and not all the way through. He also cut my dowel down to 14 inches for me.

Step 2, Make the Sails…

I had this fabric in my craft bin left over from another project. Luckily, it was perfect for my sails. I started by cutting the fabric into the shape of a sail. I made 2, 1 slightly larger than the other. Then I used my glue gun to glue the edges together. I don’t own a sewing machine, or even know how to sew, but if you do and want to make this project, I am sure a sewing machine would work much better than my glue gun.

Step 3, Attach the Sails to the Dowel…

To attach the sails to the dowel I had to make little holes in the sails. I did this with a sharp pair of scissor and a steady hand. Once the holes were big enough I stuck a piece of twine through and tied it to the dowel. I made one hole in the top and bottom of each sail. Looking at this now I wished I had thinner twine or even thin white rope. It would have looked much better. Once they were tied tight I added a tiny bit of hot glue to secure them in place.

DIY Driftwood Sailboat
DIY Driftwood Sailboat
DIY Driftwood Sailboat

Step 4, Secure Dowel to Driftwood…

Once the sails were tied to the dowel I placed the dowel into the driftwood and added some hot glue to hold it in place. Then I used one eye-hook on each end of the driftwood to secure the sail to the wood and tried to hide the eye-hook behind the sail as best as I could. Once secure I trimmed off as much excess twine as I could.

DIY Driftwood Sailboat

Here is the final product. It is not bad and came out okay for my first crack at making one of these. Could be better though.

DIY Driftwood Sailboat
DIY Driftwood Sailboat
DIY Driftwood Sailboat

PIN FOR LATER…

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18 Comments

  • Reply Tammy August 5, 2020 at 9:42 am

    So clever! I love this… perfect for coastal decor!

  • Reply Christine Loken August 5, 2020 at 10:25 am

    I just love your adorable sailboat, Jodi! I’ve always been a huge fan of beach decor!

    • Reply Jodi House August 5, 2020 at 10:46 am

      Thank you. I am so glad you like it. 🙂

  • Reply Terrie - Decorate and More with Tip August 5, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Jodi how precious is the sailboat. I can’t wait to see where you display this cuteness. Great way to use dowel rods.

  • Reply Liberty August 5, 2020 at 10:59 am

    So creative! It looks like it wasn’t that hard to do. It’s always good when you can make something instead of having to purchase it.

    • Reply Jodi House August 5, 2020 at 11:13 am

      It was pretty easy to make. It is not perfect for my first attempt, but not bad either.

  • Reply Michelle August 5, 2020 at 11:09 am

    This is such a cute idea! It would go perfect with my beach decor. 🙂

    • Reply Jodi House August 5, 2020 at 11:14 am

      Give it a try. It was fun to make and not to hard either.

  • Reply Chloe August 5, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Oh my, I have made these, but hunted and hunted for a piece of driftwood to use for the mast! Using a dowel would have made this so much easier! Pinned!

    • Reply Jodi House August 5, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      ha! Yes, I figured I’d try it this way. I have seen them made with drift wood for the mast and love that look too though.

  • Reply Danya August 6, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    I love this! It looks like a store bought one. Perfect!

  • Reply Teddi Barnes December 1, 2020 at 10:54 am

    I’m not a nautical person, but this is definitely one I would make or buy. You said it could be better, but I don’t see how! I love it.

    • Reply Jodi House December 1, 2020 at 10:55 am

      Well thank you so much for saying that. I am so glad you like it.

  • Reply Clancy December 1, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    Just the perfect quirky object for my bathroom window. I love the masculinity/femininity look and that I could size it to suit. Your boat just sailed by at the right time for this passenger 🤗

    • Reply Jodi House December 1, 2020 at 9:18 pm

      Lol! Good luck making one. If you do, I’d love to see it.

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