Decorate your walls for cheap with this super easy $5 popsicle stick wall decor DIY. Who knew popsicle sticks could look this chic?

I’m going to be honest this DIY happened by accident, but a happy accident! I was organizing my craft room when I realized that I have quite the popsicle stick collection. There were A TON! You would think I run a daycare or something. Since I am trying to declutter our house before the baby gets here, I made a mental note to come up with a project to use up some of my popsicle collection. That’s when I found myself scrolling through Google for some popsicle stick inspiration. I’m pretty impressed with what I came up with! Who knew kids’ craft supplies could be so chic?!? Talk about a cheap and easy wall decor solution!
This post is all about how to to make this 5-minute popsicle stick wall decor DIY!
Pin this Popsicle Stick Wall Decor for Later

Materials for Popsicle Stick Wall Decor
- 40 Popsicle sticks – I used the super jumbo sticks from Hobby Lobby
- Hot glue gun – This cordless one is so cool! I think I should just buy it already!
- Paint to stain the popsicle sticks – I opted out of this step, but any craft paint will do
- Command strips or something to hang your piece
Popsicle Stick Wall Decor DIY
Glue Several Squares Together

You will start this project by warming up your trusty ol’ glue gun and gluing together several squares out of your popsicle sticks. For my final design, I ended up with 10 squares which equals 40 popsicle sticks total. When arranging your squares, start by laying two sticks parallel of one another and then two on top making a full square. As you can see, it doesn’t take much hot glue to get them to adhere, so don’t waste your glue.
How do I Make the Popsicle Stick Squares perfectly Square?
To make your popsicle stick squares perfectly square (or super close to being perfect), tap down on the edges while the glue is still drying. You can also tap them against a straight edge like a ruler too. You have to work pretty quickly to do either of these methods, but it does help.
Hot Glue Tips
- If you have globs of glue showing, run the tip of your glue gun back over it to reheat the glue and wipe it away. I do this with glue strings too. I’ve also read you can use a blow dryer to melt away pesky glue strings, but haven’t tried it yet.
- Let the hot glue cool for about 10ish seconds before placing the popsicle sticks together. Letting the glue cool and slightly harden first allows it to get “stickier”.
- When inserting a glue stick into the chamber (I know, chamber makes it sound so tough), heat the tip of the glue stick with the tip of the gun so the new glue stick will adhere to the current glue stick. This helps keep the new glue sticks from falling out of your glue gun.
Paint or Stain Squares
Once your have your squares assembled, it’s time to stain them. It will be easier to do this now, than to wait until you create and assemble your finished design. See below for my DIY stain hack.
You can also skip this step altogether and leave the sticks their natural wood color. Since I am trying to work more of the natural woods into our decor, I skipped the staining step.
How to Make Stain using Paint and Water
Did you know you can make your own stain by mixing together water and craft paint? You may need to add a top coat for some projects, but it does the job!
To create your own stain, gradually dilute some craft paint with water. That’s it! Actual stain can be used, but not necessary and it will require a longer drying time. You can test the color and consistency of your stain by painting a few test popsicle sticks and then adjust accordingly. I like being able to see the grain of wood, so I make my stain fairly thin. This step requires some experimenting, but don’t stress. If it’s too light, add another layer of “stain” or darken your mixture with more black. If it’s too dark, try rubbing it off with a paper towel. Play around with it!
Lay out your Design and Glue Together


Once your popsicle stick squares are assembled and painted, you can start playing around with your design. Once you find a design you like, snap a photo in case you forget your placement and start gluing your squares together by adding a small dap of hot glue every where one square touches another square. That’s it! Once it’s all in one piece, do a shake test to make sure all of your squares are connected and it’s ready to hang on the wall!
Looking for More $5 or less DIY Projects?!??
- What about these $2 poster hangers so you can update your family portraits as often as you want? I have ours above our couch. Check it out here
- Pillows are expensive! How about painting a few?! Cost me $5 per pillow! Check it out here!
- Planters are expensive too! What if you made your own using $1 jute rope from Dollar tree? Check it out here!
- How about making your very own wood transfer using some of your favorite family photos? Check it out here!
Share your Popsicle Wall Decor
As always, thank you for following along with me in my creative journey. Be sure to tag me and use #meagannicholedotcom when sharing your Popsicle Wall Decor! Thanks for stopping by MeaganNichole.com
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