It looks like something… with string. That’s what Travis said when he saw this project that I’m about to post about. So, I guess I should re-do yesterday’s post, and include it in there according to Travis’ comment. I’m not “in love” with the outcome of this project, but I do like it. So screw boys, they have no idea what they are talking about, right? Or maybe this project really is terrible. If so, please tell me, so I can be completely embarrassed and hide its existence. Or maybe, it’s awesome and Travis’ should learn a thing or two from Ryan Gosling. ;)

Okay, onto the project. I finally made something that I’ve had pinned on Pinterest since Pinterest first began. I made some state string art, but I did it ombre style. I went to Michael’s a few weeks ago and picked up one of their wooden plaques. I think I paid $6.99 or something for it.

I gave it a few coats of walnut stain to give it some color. I thought about painting it, but I’ve been loving natural wood lately.

I then searched google for “Pennsylvania State Outline” and came up with this image, which I enlarged and printed on legal paper. I taped it onto my wooden plaque and drew a heart over where we live.

I then nailed small brass nails around the border of the state, and around the heart. I ran into issues with the heart, since there was a knot in the wood right underneath it. So, the nails refused to go into the wood straight, which means the heart at the end looks a little odd.

Once I was done nailing down all of the nails, and my arm felt like it was going to fall off, I slowly took the paper off. I was then left with an outline of my home state.

I originally had white string to put around the nails, but the string was thicker than I thought it was, and it just looked weird. So, I went through all of my sewing threads and picked out a bunch of grey shades, since I knew that one would not be enough to go around the entire state. I ended up using four shades of grey around the entire state, which gives it an ombre affect.

I’d like to hang this in our frame gallery wall (whenever I have one). The entire project only cost me $6.99 (the cost of the wooden plaque) since I already had everything else on hand. So, if I decide I don’t like it, it’s really not a big deal. But for now, it’s going to hang out on our bookshelf. :)

Posted on June 19, 2013 - 29 comments
 Filed Under: Projects