Our Christmas tree went up this week. My daughter was excited to decorate for the holidays, but when we finished, she told me that we did not nearly decorate the house enough.
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She went on to tell me that we needed to get her dollhouse ready for Christmas. “My dollhouse needs snow and a Christmas tree.”
My daughter as many of you may well know, is named after my mother. Mai is a less than common name, which is one of the things I love about it. She will always be unique. We have a lot of personalized & monagrammed things for her. I cannot see the letter M without thinking of my little munchkin. So when I was shopping at Michael’s and saw a giant wooden M for sale, I had to scoop it up. Her room is purple with golden & neutral tones, so I chose colors to compliment her room. What you will need: A wooden letter Different colored yarns Elmers glue Scissors Glue gun
Purchase a cheap wooden letter from a craft store or make one yourself.
Form a circle using the glue. Starting from the center begin circling the yarn around itself.
Continue to circle around until you cover the glue circle.
Snip the end of your yarn off and form into the circle.
Working off the edge of the first circle add another glue circle and repeat the circling method.
For circles that are not full because off cut out edges, form half circles around each side cutting off the ends at the edge.
Continue this pattern, making circles as big or as small as you desire.
To fill in uncovered spaces around the circles, fill in with a different colored yarn following the same lines as your circles.
Braid the different colored yarns together & knot each end.
With a glue gun add hot glue on the back of your initial where you would like your hanger.
Press your braided yarn into the glue & repeat on the other side.
Find a place to hang your craft.
String art has had me curious for a while now, but I was not brave enough to tackle it. It seemed so time consuming & difficult that I did not have the motivation to try it… until now. This was my first attempt, so I had a few crafting bumps & bruises along the way but all & all I was happy with the finished product. Here is what you need..
Supplies:
A square of solid cork board (You can substitute wood as well)
A box of small nails
Hammer
Embroidery threads of varying color. I used shades of purple with green as an accent
Lightweight paper
A pen, pencil or a marker
Tape
Glue
Draw the design of your craft project out on paper.
Tape it to your cork board or wood.
Using a hammer lightly tap your nails into the pattern. Only tap about halfway in, leaving room on the nail to wrap your string. Remove your paper template carefully by tearing it out from under the nails.
To start, tie a piece of the embroidery thread to the nail that you intend to start with. Use a dab of glue to secure in place & let dry.
Wrap your thread around the nails, weaving it back & forth between nails. You can weave it however you choose as long as you make sure to follow the design of your pattern. Keep an extra sketch of your drawing handy for reference. It is easy to lose your pattern in the nails after a while.
Continue to weave your thread around the nails following your pattern until complete. Tie off your thread at the end & use a dab of glue to secure. Be sure to tie off your thread in between colors too.
Hang up your finished product.
This was a fun project. I think I might have the string art bug. I can’t wait to design my next project. It takes a little getting used to. I lost myself a little in my lettering but once I referenced my drawing I was able to decipher my pattern again. This is a very forgiving project. There is plenty of room for error & to go back.
Related topics:
http://smallestforest.net/2014/01/29/httpwp-mepeep9-1g9/
http://daisyanddaydreams.com/2014/01/30/valentines-day-decor/