Cheap and Easy DIY How to: Oversized Wall Sized String Art.

Well, so ok.  Mike is not a fan.  He’s even refraining from comment he said.  So there’s that.

I think it’s pretty cool though.  Or, maybe I’m off my rocker, who knows.

So you’ve seen that string art a zillion times, right?   The kind where there are nails on a board or whatever and string or thread and folks make shapes or words or states or ya know, like anything.

One fine evening sitting on the couch I glanced over at the wall and a flash ran through my head:  string art.  Nails in the wall.  Large.  Seriously have no idea what befalls me sometimes....

Sooo I did it.

Over on the television wall.

That Mike looks at daily.

Hm.  Maybe he'll grow to like it, we’ll see.

He did not request that I take it down but considering his statements, and lack thereof, I’m kinda surprised he didn’t.  Again, we’ll see.

Sometimes I struggle with how to finish a wall, as I’m sure most people do.  I’m not a decorator per se, see, so accessories and artwork and dressing things aren’t necessarily my forte.  Vignettes and well-styled coffee tables, not my jam nor, hahaha, are they even remotely practical at our house.

Have you seen our dog?

Fiiinnn-naay big dog bulldozer.

As such, our house, if you wander through, probably looks disjointed, not decorated-y, not styled, and doesn’t make sense.  Then again, sometimes I don’t make sense so maybe that makes perfect sense.

Critical walls, like the master bedroom wall that has the spiffy wood block headboard or walls we stare at daily, those are trickier than a walk-by wall.  You gotta truly think about what you’re willing to look at on the regular, ya know?

So right.  In studying the tv wall and envisioning something visually interesting, that took up space in that, proportionally considering the other elements, it needed to be large, and in charge.

Before.  Yeah, that 15 Minute Art is heh, still hanging there!

And textural, as another painted thing would be too too many painted things in the immediate vicinity, given the hand-painted stripes plus also the hand-painted whoo-ha jiggity jam going on in the foyer area.

Somehow (???) heh string art came to mind.  But using twine for texture.

Here’s my supply list:

• painter’s tape*
• hole punch*
• twine* 
• panel nails, 1”, black*
• hammer*
• needle nose pliers*

Soooo, this could not have been any easier of a DIY really.

I kinda had a general design mapped out in my head so all I needed to do was recreate it.  You can definitely sketch ideas out on paper first.

First, using painter’s tape and a single hole punch, I popped little circles of tape out and stuck them on the wall where I wanted a nail.  Nice thing here was that I wasn’t marking the wall with anything, messily erasing pencil marks, and the dots were simple to rearrange.

Yep, just a hole punch through some painters tape for easy wall marks!

Handy tip really, for anything you want to put on a wall or whatever but think you might need to shift placement around a bit.  Yeah, you’re welcome!

After sticking up all my dots, it was time to get nailin’.

I chose panel nails for two reasons.  One, because these particular ones were black.  Hahaaa of course.  They come in various colors in fact, white, bronze-ish, blah blah, so choose as you wish.

The strangely big roll of twine and black panel nails for ya there, a-yep.

Honestly though, the heads are a wee small, they don’t register as the black dots as much as I’d hoped for but ah well.

Two, the nails have ridges so they're grippy-ier than regular nails.  Since they're merely hangin' out in 1/2" thick drywall, not much to hold onto.  Meaning, the ridges, they were less likely to wiggle while I was stringing them up and less likely to shift after.

Righty-o, so yes, after the painter’s tape dots and mapping out the wall, I hammered in the nails.

I would've shown you the dots but those photos were confusing and unclear.  Much like this one with the nails in the wall.

I used a pair of needle nose pliers* to hold the nails, ya know, less finger crushing ouchies and it was easier to handle the nails.

Bang bang bang. Bang, bang, bang bang bang.

Poor Finn was like, “jeez mom, what in the heck, that’s ow loud, I am outta here!”  Plus too, I moved his corner bed* which always makes him tweaky.


Next up, tie the twine end onto a starting nail and just string it all around.  Yep, easy as that!

And I know, holy sh*t, you're seeing me!  Me in action too!  Holy sh*t!


Tie off at the end and voila, super large wall-sized string art installation!

Sure if I take it down, there are a slew of miniature holes to patch but really, no biggie at all.*  They’re super tiny.

Mike gets home, ambles into the kitchen, looks across and sees….. “Uh.  What’s with the spider….the uh wall…..”

Looks at the wall.  Looks at me.  Looks at the wall.  Hands on hips.  Head tilt.  Body shift.  Slight head shake.  Looks at me.  Walks away.

Later on the couch:

B:  So uh you uh don’t like it, huh?

M:  Uh.   I….it’s not doing it for me.  You wanted me to be honest.

B:   Yes, I do.  But why don’t you like it?   Is it because it’s new or you just don’t like it?

M:  I think it’s best not to say anything more.

Or some such general statements were made along those lines.

Ouch.  Boy oh boy!  I’ll leave it up for a bit, see if it grows on him as I’m holding out hope that it does.  As is the case many a time.  (Please don't beat up on Mike if you disagree, I love him.)

Heh, ah well, you win some, you lose some!  I feel like I'm on a strikeout streak again lately; hopefully my luck will change.

Still, I think this is pretty cool project though and the possibilities in this idea are endless.  The twine, string, yarn, colors, shapes, patterns, nails....limitless possibilities.  Boundless creativity!

Would you try this?  How would you do it?

*The painter’s tape, hole punch, twine, panel nails, hammers, needle nose pliers, dog beds, and spackle are Amazon affiliate links.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the “boring stuff” tab for more info.