DIY State Necklaces

When I moved across country from the Midwest to LA, I missed the Mitten State for so many reasons. The seasons, the people, the food, the accents... you just can't beat it. So when I saw this post by VJuliet on how to craft your own state necklaces out of wire, I thought this would be a perfect way to show some state pride. However, I did also create a California one, since I do live here after all...

So it's quite simple, all you'll need is:

1. 22 gauge wire
2. Round-nose pliers (I did use my fingers but the pliers really help with sharp corners)
3. Wire cutters (or really sharp scissors)
4. Tape (masking you can reuse easily)
5. An outline of your state, printed out on card stock
6. A necklace chain, to wear your state with pride
7. Microsoft Word or Photoshop

First, find an outline of your state and using Microsoft Word or Photoshop, make the image 2" x 2". Print it out on card stock (as printer paper may easily tear during the process).

Next, make a small loop with the wire, as this will be at the top of your state. Make sure it's big enough for your chain to go through, or all your work might be for nothing!

Tape the loop to the top of your state and start bending around the outline! When you're done with a small section, put tape over it so it stays in place and doesn't change shape.

By the end, your paper should look something like this.

My first try was a bit sloppy, my second try I tried just the lower peninsula but I felt guilty about leaving da Yoopers out, but I finally got it down with my third try! If you live in a state like Wyoming or Colorado, this project might not be for you, unless you want a bunch of people asking why you're wearing a square or rectangle.

Surprisingly enough, California was much easier than Michigan! But take your time and if it doesn't work the first time, try again!

TOTAL COSTS: $3.99

$3.99 for 22 gauge wire from Michael's

Masking tape, card stock, and pliers on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Depends on state

I took me 8-9 minutes for Michigan and 6 minutes for California

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5

If you use your fingers more than the pliers to bend the wire, your fingers will be sore, just as a heads-up. The more you do it, the easier and better they'll turn out.

Wood String State Art

Not sure what wood string state art is? I wasn't sure either until I saw this post by The Harpster Home and wanted to give it a try. If you have wood, string, nails, a hammer, and a printer, you too can also make this unique piece of art! You don't have to do a state, either. I've seen some people on Pinterest and Etsy do reindeer, snowmen, polar bears... or you could spend $50 on one like this but making one is MUCH cheaper!

The original post called for a 12" x 12" piece of wood but I went with a 9" x 12" and focused on the lower peninsula of Michigan (sorry Yoopers!). Make sure you have a LOT of nails and a LOT of string before you even get started. I didn't have enough string so I ended up using sewing thread, which worked fine but was pretty thin.

So using scotch tape (or painters tape, as the original post called for), tape down whatever it is you're going to outline with nails so it doesn't move around the wood. Then, one nail at a time, nail down around the edges of the design. When you're done, remove the paper design.

Take your string, tie it around one nail, and start going back and forth between the border nails and the heart nails, just zig-zagging back and forth. Be sure to pop in a podcast or music because this will be as boring as the hammering part.

One big mistake I made? The heart around my hometown wasn't fully nailed into the piece of wood, so the nails got pulled in all directions, making the heart look sloppy:

Once your'e done, though, you'll have a unique piece of art that didn't cost much and would make a great holiday gift!

TOTAL COSTS: About $17 (MUCH cheaper than the $50 piece on Etsy!)
$9.99 for the wood from Michael's
$2.19 for thread from Vons
$5.20 for 4 packs of nails from Home Depot (be sure to go with the nails with heads on top - I ended up using 15 nails for the heart and 125 around the state)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Almost an hour
35 minutes to go around the state with hammer and nails
20 minutes to go around with string

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
The hardest part is just making sure the nails are far enough into the wood so that they won't move - don't make the same mistake I made!

State to State Love - A Perfect Engagement/Wedding/Anniversary Gift!

Philly/Kalamazoo Love

A friend of mine posted some photos of her engagement on Facebook and she had decorated her wall with cute sayings, photos, etc. One piece of art that I particularly liked she got from Near and Dear Designs on Etsy. $32 for a very cute piece of art, showing the home states of the bride and groom. I figured, why not try and do it for less?

Of course there weren't any instructions available so I made it up as I went along - feel free to tweak these however you see fit! The original design was all on 1 print so if you have a color printer and Photoshop, you're welcome to print it out there on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. I, however, wanted to make it pop just a little more:

Step 1 - Pick your states

Since I'm from Michigan and my husband is from Pennsylvania, I figured those would be ideal for this project.

Step 2 - Take outlines of those states and put them onto a Word doc.

I found perfect examples here: http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/(enter initials of state here)_maps.htm. So for Michigan, I put in http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/mi_maps.htm and clicked on "Blank Outline Map". For Pennsylvania, I entered http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/pa_maps.htm and did the same thing. Just click and drag those states onto a Word doc.

After you've dragged them to the Word doc, double-click on them and click on "Layout". Make sure they are "Behind Text". Also, you'll want your document to have .5" margins around the borders.

Step 3 - Decide where you want to place the states and the ampersand sign (&)

This took the longest for me, because I'm so picky. In the original design, the ampersand sign takes up a quarter of the entire page, the states are relatively the same size, they're close together, and not near the borders. For a perfectionist, this proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. Because the states I chose are so awkwardly shaped (damn you Upper Peninsula!), it took a while to figure out where I wanted to place them. After 45 minutes of moving, resizing, and moving them again, I finally got them where I wanted them. My ampersand was Size 450 and Times New Roman.

Step 4 - Print out your states on white cardstock and cut them out

I recommend states like Colorado or Wyoming...

Step 5 - Print out the ampersand only on whichever color paper you like

In the original design, the ampersand is lighter than the color of the paper. I had to go darker because otherwise it wouldn't show up at all. My color printer wouldn't print out white. Who knew?

Step 6 - Tape or glue the cut-out states to the paper with ampersand

Now I used Elmer's glue and I regret that decision. You can see the bumps under the paper where there was too much glue used so the state is not flush with the paper, which is why you might want to use double-sided tape. However, if your state has a bunch of little ins and outs, the tape might not be your friend.

Step 7 - Print out and cut tiny red hearts and tape/glue them to where your hometowns are on the states

Step 8 - Draw on a dotted line between the two hearts. Another mistake I did - doing it freehand, which allowed for my dotted line to look sloppy. If you can follow the curve of a cup or bowl, do that.

Step 9 - Put in frame!


TOTAL COSTS: FREE
I already had these supplies:

1. Colored cardstock
2. White cardstock
3. Glue (though you might want to use tape)
4. A 8x10 Frame
I bought the frame from Target over a year ago in West Hollywood and I think it cost somewhere in the ballpark of $15-$20.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes
45 minutes trying to figure out the layout of the states
10 minutes with printer issues
The rest of the time used to cut out states and hearts, glue them to paper, draw dotted line, and put in frame

EASY-PEASY SCALE: 3 out of 5
If you're not a tech-savvy person, placing the states and getting them the size you want on the Word doc might be a little more difficult for you, but not impossible. You're just putting them on the Word doc to see how big they should be before printing and cutting them out. If you're familiar with editing photos in a Word doc, this will be a piece of cake.