One of my favorite things to do is walk down the home decor sections of stores. It’s always fun to look at the canvas prints and other interesting wall accent pieces, especially the string art pieces, but it’s one of those projects that’s meant to look like you created it yourself. I figured, why shouldn’t I actually create it myself?
The basic premise behind this project is to use nails to outline a silhouette of an animal, object or word. Then string is woven between the nails to fill in the outline.
Coming from someone who honestly doesn’t do much work with wood and nails, this project is deceptively difficult.
DIY String Art
1. Sand the wood.
2. Paint the board whatever color you desire.
3. Print out the design you want to use. A silhouette typically works the best for this project. Choose one with very few details.
4. Cut out the silhouette and use some painter’s tape to loosely attach the silhouette to the board.
5. Begin hammering the nails around the silhouette until you go all the way around, and then carefully remove the printed design.
6. Reinforce any loose nails with the hot glue gun.
7. Using the embroidery floss, tie a knot around the nail you want to begin with and begin weaving the floss back and forth to fill in the space.
8. Tie off the end and use some hot glue to reinforce the knots.
Overall, this project was most difficult in the nailing. Granted, I ended up using slightly bigger 1-inch nails, but the nails would often come out of the wood. The weaving was my favorite part because there is just something therapeutic about threading the string back and forth among the nails. As with most art projects, it’s nice to be able to turn off my brain from the pressures of school and work and just work with my hands.
This project also required me to make my first solo shopping trip to Home Depot. Just a tip, the smallest wood sizes they have are 2 feet by 2 feet, but if you ask nicely they’ll cut it for you. It was an experience, but if you’re someone who enjoys working with wood and nails, this project will probably be simple.
Leave a Reply