What I Made Wednesday {My Hometown String Art}

This project will just tug at your heart strings. It's so easy, so fun, and the results are amazing! My son helped me with this project so it turned out extra special. I think his interest piqued when he saw a hammer was involved. With boys, the hammer is the fine line between a craft versus a project. Just know that, moms of boys.

 What You'll Need

Hammer
Scissors
Ruler
Print out of your state map
Tiny brass nails
Wood platform
Crochet Yarn in your color choice
Mod Podge or glue and a brush (not shown)

I purchased the tiny nails and "wood slice" at Hobby Lobby. You can choose any type of nails but don't make them too long. The nails should also have a nice, flat head on the top to keep the string in place. If you want to do this with a canvas background, you'll have to lay a piece of wood behind the canvas, secure it, and then hammer the nails through the canvas and into the wood behind the canvas. I went with the "wood slice" platform for a more rustic feel. You'll notice two hammers. I wasn't sure which one I was going to use but found, once I started, the smaller, jeweler's hammer worked best for the tiny nails.

I wasn't sure what string I was going to use so I bought several with varying thickness. The nails were so tiny I didn't think the thicker yarn would work. I preferred using the thin crochet yarn, using the red for the heart.

What You'll Do
Scour the Internet and print out an outline image of your state. The print out should be appropriately sized for your wood platform size.

Use your ruler to size it out and cut out a little outside the outline.

Tape down your cut out state onto your wood platform.

Draw in a heart in the area where you live in your state. Hammer in each nail along the outline. Tear the print out to remove it from the hammered outline.

Now for the fun part. I had my son do the string art entirely by himself. You can't get it wrong. Just make sure as you wrap the string around the nails and go from side to side and across, you get every nail. It can be easy to miss a few.

Begin by knotting the end of the crochet yarn to one nail. Then, give yourself enough slack from the yarn and wrap away. Take the string across and around one nail, then change direction to another side, wrapping the string around each nail as you go. Avoid the area inside the heart, as that will be strung using a different color.
 
When each nail is wrapped with string at least once and you're satisfied with your string art design, cut the yarn giving enough length to tie another knot securing the string art remains taut and in place. For added security, I added a drop of Mod Podge to the end of the string on both ends, almost gluing the string to itself. It also helped to hide the extra little string from the end of the knot.

Repeat the same steps for the heart string art. You can see the Mod Podge in this photo.

What You'll Need to Know to Finish
I didn't attach any hanging hardware to the platform because my intention was for the finished piece to lean against the back of a display hutch. If this is also your intention and you go with the "wood slice", be sure to select one that will stand up straight when leaning against a backdrop. You'll notice the "wood slice" I chose had a flat, straight bottom.

I love the way this turned out. I especially love the fact that my son was the main artiste on this project! Yeah, a couple of nails were missed, but who cares! He did a great job and we had a lot of fun doing this project together.


If you were to do this project, what state would you represent?