Painted Saws

Let’s get one thing straigt, I don’t like sharing my DIY crafts. I’m very particular and if they don’t look perfect I’m disappointed. That’s why so far I’ve only shared my chicken aprons. Well,  I’ve decided it’s time to step outside of that and share some ideas. Be forewarned, they may not be absolutely perfect. I know this. If anything, use what I share for some ideas of your own. I saw painted saws at a craft show once and decided to put my own twist on it. 

The Saws Before Painting

The actual saws before painting are nothing special. I bought them for a dollar at an auction! They’re super old and probably would be no good for actually cutting things. After I bought them they sat in my garage for a long time before I finally decided to tackle them. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you clean them off. They may not even look dirty but particles sitting on the saw will show through the paint or create bumps when painted.

Snowman

The first painted saw I worked on was the snowman. I was so nervous! It ended up being much easier than I thought.

After cleaning my saw, I used a white primer on it. Don’t skip this step if your saw is old and rusty! The rust will bleed through and you won’t be able to cover it up. Make sure you tape up and cover your handle so it doesn’t get painted. Then I took a white matte spray paint to it. I wanted the matte look for this one but you could easily do a gloss or semi-gloss if you wanted. 

The hardest part was getting the nose done. I bought a piece of craft wood from hobby lobby and traced out a few of what I thought it would look like. My dad used his router saw to cut them out for me. Then I just chose the one I liked the most. I painted it orange, making sure to paint the sides as well. I used hot glue to glue it on where I wanted the center of the face.

Find something circular in your house for the eyes and mouth! I traced them on first to make sure that I liked their positioning. From there I used a black paint to fill them in. It may take a couple of coats. 

The finishing touches are the funnest. The greens were a bundle I got from Hobby Lobby. They have tons of these little things that are premade or you can put together a few to make one. They cover up a good chunk of the handle to make it more festive. The other thing you can do is to add a ribbon bow on the bottom. I show it with and without here. This is where it can be super custom for your house too, which makes it really fun!

There was one last step I was going to take on this painted saw that I haven’t done and can’t decide if I will. I bought white sparkles to add to it to make it look more like snow. It’s a chunkier glitter, like this one linked, and I think it would look really cool! My mom and sister were on the other side so I won’t add it unless I decide to make another one. 

The Reindeer

The reindeer saw was even more fun to me. Plus it was super easy once I got past the snowman. 

To start, I took my clean saw and painted it with a metallic brown spray paint. Again, make sure that you’ve covered up your saw handle so you don’t paint it. This is a really cool option to give it a little character. You could totally just use brown but I think it’s a little boring for my taste.

Then I traced on the eyes and mouth. Always trace in pencil first to make sure you like it. If necessary, you can repaint over it before you get too far down the road. Once you like them, start painting. For the eyes, start with the white first, then put the black overtop. 

The antlers are a holiday headband that I took apart- so simple! This also allows for some customization here too! You could use plain antlers or find some fun ones like I did here. Take them apart carefully and then use hot glue to attach them to your saw.

You can also do anything for the nose. You could even paint it on if you wanted to. I just think it adds a little character to have a nose that sticks out. Kind of breaks it all up a little bit. The best part of these painted saws is that you can customize them super easily fo your preferences.

In Conclusion: Painted Saws

I was actually a little shocked at how quick and easy these painted saws were once the spray paint was on them. The faces just took some time to dry and then they were done. A few coats of paint and the time in between drying is all you need! These are a really fun rustic Christmas decoration for your house or even to sell at a craft show! Our biggest downfall of craft shows is that we always look at things and say “I can make that.” Seriously, it’s a running joke now. Most of the time it’s 100% accurate too!

Has there been anything that you tried to make that turned out really cool? We’d love to see your best Christmas crafts.