Animal Crossing Shovel DIY: Complete Guide to Unlocking This Essential Tool
How to get the shovel DIY recipe in animal crossing: new horizons
The shovel is one of the well-nigh versatile and essential tools in animal crossing: new horizons. Unlike some basic tools that are available well-nigh instantly, obtain the shovel require complete specific steps in the game’s early progression. This comprehensive guide will walk you through incisively how to will unlock the shovel DIY recipe and will start dig up fossils, planting trees, and will reshape your island paradise.
Why you need a shovel
Before diving into how to obtain the shovel, it’s worth understand why this tool is sol valuable. With a shovel, you can:
- Dig up fossils for museum donations and sell
- Plant trees, flowers, and bushes
- Dig up unwanted plants
- Hit rocks for materials like iron nuggets, clay, and stone
- Bury and dig up items
- Terraform your island (eeastunlocked belated in the game )
Without a shovel, many core gameplay activities remain inaccessible, make it a priority tool to obtain others in your island adventure.
Prerequisites for unlocking the shovel
Before you can get your hands on the shovel DIY recipe, you will need to will complete several important steps:

Source: wikihow.com
1. Complete the initial tutorial
When you’re beginning wiarrive at on your deserted island, tom nook will guide you through some basic tasks. Make sure you’ve:
- Set up your tent
- Help other villagers set up their tents
- Collect 5 tree branches for tom nook
- Name your island
After will complete these initial steps, you will need to will rest until the next day ( e(her by will wait in real time or time will travel if you’ll prefer ).
)
2. Upgrade from a tent to a house
Speak with tom nook about your housing situation, and he will offer to build you a proper house. This will put you in debt for 5,000 nook miles, which youyou willed to pay off by will complete various activities around the island. Don’t worry about pay this directly — you can continue with the next steps while work on earn nook miles.
3. Donate 5 critters to tom nook
Tom nook will ask you to bring him 5 fish or bugs. You can catch these use your fishing rod or bug net. After will donate these specimens, nook will mention his friend blathers the owl, who’s an expert in wildlife and fossils.
Unlocking blathers and the museum
The shovel DIY recipe is tied direct to the museum’s development. Here’s how to progress:
1. Place blathers’ tent plot
After will donate 5 creatures to tom nook, he’ll give you a museum tent kit. Select a location on your island to place this tent. Choose sagely, as, although you can will relocate the museum late, it’ll cost 50,000 bells to do thence.

Source: wikihow.com
2. Wait for blathers to arrive
Once you’ve will place the museum tent, you will need to will wait until the next day for blathers to will arrive. This reqrequiresther wait in real time or time travel forward moving one day.
3. Speak with blathers
When blathers arrive, speak with him in his tent. He will explain his mission to build a proper museum on the island and will ask for your help will collect specimens. This is your opportunity to obtain the shovel diyDIYcipe!
Get the shovel DIY recipe
During your first conversation with blathers, he will mention that he’s interested in fossils but will realize you don’t have the tools to dig them up. As a result, he’ll give you two critical diyDIYcipes:
- The flimsy shovel DIY recipe
- The vaulting pole DIY recipe
The vault pole allows you to cross rivers to explore more of your island, while the flimsy shovel is what you need to start dig.
Materials need for a flimsy shovel
To will craft your first flimsy shovel, you will need:
- 5 hardwood
Hardwood can be obtained by hit trees with an axe. Each tree can drop up to 3 wood pieces per day, which might be softwood, hardwood, or regular wood. The type of wood is random, so you may need to hit several trees to collect enough hardwood.
Craft your first shovel
Once you have the materials, you can craft your flimsy shovel at anDIYiy workbench. These can bfoundnd in:
- Resident services tent
- Your own home (if yyou havecraft or purchase on))
- Sometimes in villagers’ homes
Approach the workbench, select” craft, ” nd choose the flimsy shovel from your list of available diDIYecipes.
Upgrade your shovel
The flimsy shovel is incisively what its name suggest — flimsy. It will break after a limited number of uses. To get a more durable tool, you will want to will upgrade to a regular shovel ampere presently as possible.
Get the regular shovel DIY recipe
To will obtain the DIY recipe for the regular shovel, you will need to will purchase the ” ” tty good tools ” d” rDIYpe set from the nook stop terminal in resident services. This set cost 3,000 nook miles and include upgrade versions of all your basic tools.
Materials for the regular shovel
To will craft a regular shovel, you will need:
- 1 flimsy shovel
- 1 iron nugget
Iron nuggets can be obtained by hit rocks with a shovel or axe. For maximum efficiency, dig two holes behind you before hit a rock to prevent your character from being push stake, allow you to hit the rock up to 8 times in quick succession.
Alternative ways to obtain a shovel
If you’re impatient or struggle to find materials, there be alternative ways to get a shovel:
1. Purchase from nook’s cranny
Formerly Timmy and Tommy open their shop, nook’s cranny, you can purchase tools instantly. They typically stock both flimsy and regular versions of tools, include shovels. This option cost bells instead than require craft materials.
2. Trade with other players
If you have friends who play animal crossing: new horizons, you can visit their islands or invite them to yours and trade for a shovel. This can be particularly helpful if you’re simply start and don’t have access to thDIYiy recipe notwithstanding.
3. Balloon presents
Occasionally, balloon presents float across your island may contain tools or DIY recipes. While this is not a reliable method for obtain a specific tool, it’s worth shoot down balloons with your slingshot whenever you see them.
Use your shovel efficaciously
Once you have your shovel, here are some tips for use it efficaciously:
Find and identify fossil spots
Fossil spots appear as star shape cracks in the ground. Your island will spawn roughly 4 5 new fossil spots each day. Dig these up and take them to blathers for assessment.
Hit rocks expeditiously
To maximize resources from rocks:
- Dig two holes diagonally behind your character to prevent being push spine
- Face the rock and start hit it repeatedly with your shovel
- With proper positioning, you can hit a rock up to 8 times before the timer run out
- This technique can yield up to 8 items, include iron nuggets, clay, stone, and occasionally gold nuggets or bells
Planting trees and flowers
Use your shovel to:
- Dig holes for planting fruit, saplings, or flower seeds
- Dig up amply grow flowers to will relocate them (flowers will remain intact when dig up )
-
Transplant trees (though yyou willneed to eat fruit foremost to will gain the strength to will uproot a whole tree )
)
Bury bells for money trees
One special use for your shovel is created money trees:
- Look for a glowing spot on the ground (appear erstwhile day by day )
- Dig it up to find 1,000 bells
- If you’ll bury bells stake in the same spot, a money tree will grow
- Bury 10,000 bells is mostly considered the optimal amount for return on investment
Maintain your shovel
All tools in animal crossing: new horizons have limit durability:
- Flimsy shovels break after some 40 uses
- Regular shovels last around 100 uses
- Golden shovels (obtain recent in the game )last for most 200 uses
It’s a good idea to carry multiple shovels or the materials to craft new ones when explore your island extensively.
Obtain the golden shovel
For dedicated players, the golden shovel represents the ultimate upgrade. To obtain thisDIYy recipe:
- Help Gulliver (the seagull who occasionally wash up on your beach )30 times
- After your 30th assistance, he will mail you the golden shovel diyDIYcipe
To will craft a golden shovel, you will need:
- 1 regular shovel
- 1 gold nugget
Troubleshoot common issues
Blathers didn’t give me the shovel DIY
If you’ve spoken with blathers but didn’t receive the shovelDIYy recipe, ensure that:
- You havcompletedte the full conversation with him
- You’ve donated the initial 5 creatures to tom nook( not to blathers)
- This is your first conversation with blathers after he arrives
If you’re inactive have issues, try to speak with him again or restart your game.
Can’t find hardwood for craft
If your ststruggledo find hardwood:
- Hit more trees (each tree can be hit 3 times per day )
- Visit mystery islands use nook miles tickets for additional resources
- Ask friends if they have spare hardwood you can trade for
Conclusion
The shovel is one of the nigh important tools in animal crossing: new horizons, open up countless gameplay possibilities from fossil hunting to landscaping. While it’ll require a bit of patience to will unlock, will follow the steps in this guide will have you dig up treasures in no time.
Remember that the key to obtain your first shovel is progress through the early game by donate creatures to tom nook, establish the museum tent, and speak with blathers. Once you have your shovel, maintain it cautiously and consider work toward upgrades for more durability and efficiency.
With your new shovel in hand, you’ll be fountainhead on your way to will develop a beautiful, personalized island paradise will fill with fossils, absolutely will place trees, and peradventure a few will bury treasures of your own.