Friday, November 9, 2012

My Ol' Kentucky Home

I Found a project that I really wanted to try:
Louisiana Love // Reclaimed Wood Nail and String Art Tribute to The Pelican State
*Here's the item for sale on etsy*

I knew hands-down that I'd want to do this with Kentucky, since I've lived here my whole life, and I knew I'd want to make my wood background blue ("Kentucky Blue", as we call it).

The project seemed pretty self explanatory - wood (painted), nails, string, done. And no offense to said Etsy seller, but I thought I could make my own for less than $110.

First I bought a pre-cut, pre-sanded board from Michaels. Less than $5. I bought a small bottle of acrylic paint in the color I wanted as well, $1 approx. Then, knowing the size of my board (which is about 10"x13"?) I printed off an outline of the state of Kentucky - via Google search - and cut it out. Quite resourceful here.

I then used just your average small silvery picture nails, of which I had plenty, and started hammering in the outline. I used it as a pretty close guide, and did the major points first instead of just going for it all the way around right away. This way if I got really crooked or something, I'd have a reference point to get back on track. 

Below is my completed outline! It was pretty tedious, but I was really happy with the outcome. It's not exactly snug to the printout I had, but it's close enough that you can tell what it is. I had also already started putting in the heart for the center. I live in Central KY pretty much, so I made the heart close to where I live. Made sense.

 Here you can see the completed heart.
Now all I had to do was string the whole thing together. I knew I wanted to use white string, but wasn't sure what thickness to use. I had actually bought some twine, because I love more rustic-looking things, but after I put all the nails in I thought it would probably be too thick to use. I had to use something though, so I grabbed a spool of white thread out of my sewing basket and got started. I tied a good solid knot around one nail, and went to town! Looped from one outside nail, around one on the heart, back to the next outside nail, back to the inside, etc. Of course, the ones on the heart got a lot of repeats, but that's what makes it look so cool!
The finished product

And here it is, hanging on my apartment wall! (Unfortunately a little crooked, or my phone was...)
After I got it all strung, I did take a scrap of sand paper and rough up the wood's edges a little, since my paint job was showing some imperfections, that way it looked deliberately worn!
Very proud that I accomplished this one! Cost: I paid about $6 for supplies, but I already had the nails and thread. If I'd had to purchase everything, it would have been around $10. it was a great project!
Amy

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