String Art

Browsing Pinterest recently I came across this amazing DIY art project by Honey and Fitz.

You can see her great tutorial here

Then, I saw another version at Kelly + Olive

It may be a throwback to the 70s, but I think it looks fun and interesting.  Plus, it’s cheap and easy.  What more could I ask for?    So, the first step was to decide what I would write on my string art.  I settled on something simple:  a & l    They are the first letters of my kids’ names, so I thought it would be cute surrounded by photos of them.

Luckily, I already had a piece of wood in the garage.  I think it’s a leftover shelf from our kitchen renovation.  If so, it’s maple (or maple veneer?) and has a beautiful grain.   I like the natural look of the wood, so I didn’t paint mine, but you could easily spray on any color that would match your decor.  My piece measures 10 1/2 x 28 1/4.  If you don’t have any leftover shelves lying around, you can head to your local hardware store and have them cut a piece of plywood, or to your craft store for a pre-cut wood plaque like this one.

The leftover shelf

I found a font I liked and printed off the letters to fit the piece of wood.  Then, I taped them into position.

taped and ready to go

looking good so far

finished nailing

It probably took me, in all, about 1 1/2 hours to hammer in all the nails.   I took a break in between, so give or take 15 min.  My butt is paying the price, too, since I used my son’s footstool to sit on during the process.  If you have a workbench, well, I’m impressed.   If you do, though, I would use it.  Otherwise you will be crouched over the whole time, which is not very comfortable.

Now, for the fun part.  Rip off the paper and get stringing!

I only ended up needing two packages of embroidery thread for each letter and one for the &

Tie the string in a knot on one of the nails to begin.  Trim off the end of the string (I left about half an inch).  You can wind it into your design later so it won’t stick out.

Weave the string back and forth in a random pattern.  This is the first pass, so don’t worry about leaving empty spaces.  You will go back over the whole thing again with the other thread color.

I used two shades of orange to add more depth.  I outlined the letters with the darker color by weaving it through once, then back again.  I would suggest outlining the letter in the first pass, so it looks more incorporated into the letter once you have woven the lighter color on top.

the finished a

The finished product.  One thing I would have done differently:  not used so many nails.  I was afraid of not getting a solid enough letter, but I think I could’ve used about half as many nails and still gotten the same effect.  Now, I just need to get on that photo wall so I can hang this!

Here are a few other ideas that you might like…..

Talk about a lot of nails! This looks like it might require a little more skill than I have.

Paint one of the plaques from your craft store to get this look.

This would be so much fun in a beach house!