DIY Popsicle Stick Herringbone Backsplash
A popsicle stick backsplash?
Now hear me out, I thought it was just as insane when I was brainstorming for ways to create a unique backsplash for our laundry room. However, your girl here was on a budget and she had to get creative in her thinking. I knew I really wanted herringbone but tiling wasn’t an option if I wanted to stay in our budget (the whole laundry room makeover budget was $200 CAD ~ $157 USD).
So, I considered doing a wooden herringbone pattern, but the sheer thought of measuring and cutting down 250+ small wooden boards was daunting (regardless of with or without a baby in tow!) And then I had a lightbulb, moment – why not popsicle sticks? They’re wooden, they’re already the width I wanted, and cheap! I knew I would still end up with the tedious task of cutting off the rounded edges of the sticks but this was bearable. It wouldn’t require me bundled up in the garage in the middle of our Canadian winter cutting wood on our mitre saw. If I couldn’t have fun in our laundry room (smallest space in our house, then where else could I experiment?)
I was sold! My husband on the other hand…let’s just say…confusion was definitely one of the top emotions.
Incase you were ever interested in doing a backsplash or any herringbone pattern with popsicle sticks you could try out the below tutorial and have a go at it. It’s a fun way to add something unique to your space!
Supplies Required
For reference, I’ve included links to what I personally used for the project.
- Circular saw
- Orbital sander
- Brad nailer (optional)
- Jumbo craft sticks
- Gorilla glue
- Hardboard panel 1/8″ x 48″ x 48″
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Measuring Tape
Steps
- Measure backsplash area and then cut the hardboard panel to size using a circular saw (can be done using a table saw or jig saw as well).
2. Cut rounded tips off the popsicle sticks, so that it is now a straight cut at 90°. Do this to one stick and use this stick as the template to cut all other sticks. (My backsplash required ~250 sticks.)
3. Find the center of the hardboard panel using a measuring tape and mark a straight line down the center with a pencil.
4. Mark the center point of your initial two popsicle sticks, after this, you can eyeball it.
5. Then line your popsicle sticks on the hardboard panel along the center line like shown below.
6. Once you lay out the first two, you keep alternating between the right side and left side laying the popsicle sticks down until you are done one column.
7. Once you are satisfied with the positions, you can dab glue along the length of the popsicle sticks and stick them onto the hardboard panel. If any of the sticks are longer than required for the hardboard panel, mark the excess off with a pencil and cut before gluing.
8. You can continue with the herringbone pattern across the board by filling in popsicle sticks against the original herringbone pattern column you started with. Keep doing this until the whole board is covered.
9. Now, let the popsicle sticks dry overnight. Since not all the sticks will have glued perfectly flat onto the board, I recommend evenly placing some weights onto the board to firmly press down on the sticks drying them flat.
10. Once all the sticks are dry, carefully use the orbital sander to sand the board (starting at 180 grit and then using 220 grit). Remember to dry wipe the board once done sanding.
11. Optional step – you may wish to stain or paint at this point. Once dry proceed to next step.
12. Grab nail gun and nail along the edges of the hardboard panel to the wall.
Alternatively, you can measure and cut finger jointed pine trim to border the herringbone pattern board. For this you would first hold your board on the wall, then your trim. You would then use the nail gun to go through the trim and the board at the same time, nailing them both to the wall. This is what I did for mine with some leftover trim (trim was 7/16″x 11/16″x 8′.) An advantage of this method is that it hides any uneven cuts that were made to the popsicle sticks that are on the edges of the board.
