“Thankful” String Art Tutorial
Make your own string art sign to add to your modern fall decor!
I still love string art. From the first time I ever saw it on Pinterest, I knew I had to come up with a way to create some string art for my own home because it fits my sorta modern style perfectly. What surprised me is how easy it was to do.
Believe me it looks way more complicated than it really is.
In this string art tutorial I’ll show you how to make string art words that blend from one color to another. The possibilities for this idea are endless.
Fall decor is a bit difficult for me because most of it doesn’t naturally fit my style very well. This “thankful” string art sign is the perfect addition to my fall decor that I like to keep simple and on the modern side. I love how it turned out.
Here’s how I got ‘er done…
Supplies For DIY String Art
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- A print out of the word(s) you want in a size that will fit your board
- Wood board
- Small nails with flat heads that are short enough to not go through your board
- Scotch tape
- Hammer
- Embroidery thread in the color(s) of your choice
- Wire and hooks if you plan to hang it
I bought an alder board that was so pretty so I didn’t even stain or paint it. I like how it adds a natural element to the otherwise modern design.
To make the template I simply typed the word “thankful” onto a word document and set it to landscape. Then I played around with the font and the size until I got it to fit the board nicely. You will want to use a font that is thick like this font. It is called Clementine Sketch and I downloaded it for free on DaFont.com.
Once I had it the right size I cut around it and taped it to my board. It will print on multiple pages, so just be sure to line up the lines.
Then, I spent some time with my hammer nailing each nail about ½ way in along the outline of my word about every ½ inch making sure to put one at each point/corner.
I usually get projects done while my kids are sleeping. Not this one though. It’s loud!
When you are done with the nails, rip the paper off. If you have little bits left over, you can get them with your fingernail or tweezers.
To start, tie one end of your string around a nail on your first letter (but take the paper off first… like I didn’t do and had to start over again… ugh.)
You can cut off any extra and then start winding away back and forth and in all different directions going completely around a nail every so often to keep it tight. The more layers of string, the more solid the letter will look in the end.
I had to stop every so often and push the string down the nails a little bit.
To fade to a new color, do a lighter amount of the current color and then tie it off like you did when you started.
Then start a new color on top of your first color and add some passes back and forth before you move into an area you haven’t covered yet.
I had to really pay attention to where my letters were because it was hard to tell with the cursive writing.
My best advice is to stop every so often and make sure you haven’t gone across the middle of a letter where there shouldn’t be any string.
This added a perfect modern fall accent to my living room in a way that fit in with my existing decor. I’m loving the blue and orange that I’ve been using this year.