String Art Tutorial - An Easy Craft For Kids

This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to do string art. String art is a craft that is easy and fun. You can be so creative with it and the ideas are endless. 

I used to do this when I as a young child so I know that string art is an easy craft for kids. It will teach them hand-eye coordination. String art is a great way to relax. Give this art a try... you will be happy you did. :) 

I also made a step-by-step instructional video to make it even easier for you. I will give you all kinds of helpful tips in the video. 

Check it out!!

 http://youtu.be/xjO6MkV5_LI

Here is the second video on how to make a Seashell Dream Catcher:  https://youtu.be/iU1_aW9d3fI

What you will need:

*Scrap wood 

*Small nails-I used wire nails 18x3/4" or 1.2mm x 19.0mm 

*Hammer 

*Pliers 

*Crochet thread 

*Pattern 

*Tape 

*Paint 

*Paint brush 

*Sandpaper

The first thing that you will need to do is pick a piece of scrap wood and then lightly sand the edges to make them smooth.

Now I paint the wood. I put a piece of paper under the board to be sure I did not make a mess on anything.

Now it is time to make a pattern to use as your design. You can draw out a pattern on a piece of paper or you can print one off of your computer. For this project I used Adobe Photo Shop to help me make my font and I picked a basic pattern for a butterfly to print off and I added hearts to my butterfly for a personal touch.

I cut around the outside of the pattern to make it easy to tell where it will go on my wood. Then I taped it down on the edges so that it would not move around while I hammer my nails.

THE BEST TIP FOR THIS PROJECT:

I use my pliers to hold my nails as I hammer them. This will keep you from banging your fingers up because the nails are small. You are bound to hit your fingers with the hammer unless you do this. 

hehe :) 

I place the tip of the nail on the line of my design and hammer the tip of the nail into the board. I only give the nail a few light taps with the hammer. Just enough to make the nail hold firmly in place.

I try to make all the nails the same height so keep your eye on how hard you tap your nail. A smaller hammer will encourage a lighter tap and make it easier to hit the small nails. 

I use my pliers to straighten any nails that may be a little crooked. Once you get the hang of using the pliers and nails, it goes quite fast and becomes much easier. 

I pick the color of string that I want to use for each section of my design. I used Red Heart Crochet Thread but you can experiment by using different strings and yarns. 

After picking the color of my strings, I picked the colors of my paint that I wanted to use to paint the heads of my nails. This was fun because it added more color to the design. I loved how it turned out. This part is optional though. You do not have to paint the heads of your nails. It seemed like fun to me though. :)

After the paint on the nails dried I pulled the paper pattern off. This can be a bit of a challenge but I give you some tips in my video that might make this step a little easier. Just be patient and pull it off slowly. 

The next step is to start wrapping your string around your nails. This is the super fun part. hehe I tie a couple of simple knots onto my first nail and then cut the extra string off. 

Now I start wrapping the string around the nails. It is important to hold your string with a tight tension. This will help the string stay wrapped around the nail as you move to wrap the next nail. I use my finger nails to push the string under the head. That way the string will stay on the nail better. Yes, I had to repaint my finger nails after I was done with this project. LOL

When I put a couple of layers onto one nail it makes the next layer stay on the nail better if you push the first layer down a little with your finger nail before you wrap the next layer. 

Larger projects can have really cool string designs. Experiment with different ways to wrap the string from nail to nail in order to get different styles. It is so much fun to see how it will turn out. Remember to relax an enjoy yourself. 

Check out our video tutorial so you can see some extra tips and tricks to make this project easier. 
http://youtu.be/xjO6MkV5_LI

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