Sunday, March 6, 2016

String Cross with Heart

I've been wanting to make this design for sometime now! A friend recently told me she wanted a faith based string art and that gave me the motivation to give it a try!

  Cross with Heart Sting Art

I started with a pine board 14in by 11.25in in size and stained it with a dark red mahogany stain.

Cross with Heart Sting Art

I created my own cross shape, dimensions pictured above. As labeled on the cross I used 30 nails to make up the heart and 115 nails to make up the cross. The more nails you use the more dense the string will be.

Cross with Heart Sting Art

Once you've got your cross and heart all made up you'll want to tape it onto your board so that it is in the position you want to be finished in. Don't worry you can hammer right through the tape!

 Cross with Heart Sting Art

Next I like to use an ice pick to pre-hole where i want my nails to be. This also allows me to pull the paper off without leaving little pieces under the nails. Once it is all pre-holed you want to start in on the nails, hammering them in about 1/3 of the height of the nail.

Cross with Heart Sting Art

Once you've got all the nails in you get to start in on the string! I started my string at the top of the cross in the center. Tie the string into a double knot and hot glue it with a little dot so that it seals it off. I also divided my 115 nails from the cross with the 30 nails from the heart putting that at about 3.8. So I went around each of the outer nails once and put three or four loops around one heart nail and then moved to the next set of four nails on the cross for the second heart nail. Be sure to push down the strings on all the nails so that they don't slip off too easily! 

End of the Year Teacher Gift

I wanted to create a unique teacher gift for my child's teacher this year that would be memorable and something she could keep and display for years to come! What better a symbol for a teacher than an apple and a pencil! 


In these projects I used pine wood and then stained them with a red mahogany stain. Next I used both the apple and the pencil templates and taped them on my dried board. I like to use an ice pick to make indentations where I want my nails to be and follow my paper template. This way when I peel the paper up there aren't little pieces stuck under the nails that are too difficult to get off. Once I'm done with that I'm ready to put the nails in! Time to hammer away!

Now that all the nails are in its time to get your string on. Be sure to know what should go first for the proper layering effect! On the pencil I start with the pink eraser and the tan wood part of the pencil between the black tip and yellow pencil. Next comes the black tip and the yellow pencil body. Finally finishing it off with the silver metal part between the eraser and body of the pencil. At the beginning and end of each string and color I tie two simple knots and then put a dab of hot glue on it to secure it in place.

Once my nail art is done I move onto the painting. You can use a template that you can get from Joann's or Michael's or create your own by printing up the font and size you want and cut those letters out (that's a bit more work). Now you've got a unique and fun teacher gift that your child's teacher can treasure forever!