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!

Thanksgiving Table Runner and Candle Sticks

Want to put together a rustic, yet festive Thanksgiving table? With some scrap wood and string, you easily can. I found this video from Vintage News Junkie and found it a little confusing but eventually figured it out enough to share!

First, you'll a table.
Next, you'll need string. Any kind will do.
Finally, you'll need scrap wood pieces.

Once you have your supplies, take your string and measure out a length longer than the length of the table. I thought "Oh, my table is 55", I'll have the string be 58"." That won't work because you're wrapping the string around the wood so you're going to lose some inches. I could have had a longer table runner had I made my string longer! So to be on the safe side, go for 10" longer than the table, if you can. The more, the better. Once you have your string the length you want, make three other strings that same length. Now you have four strings - tie two together and the other two together.

Next is the annoying part and it probably took me a good 10 minutes to figure it out. Take your wood and one pair of string and stick the wood in the string, so there's a piece of string on top and a piece under.

If you like simple directions: twist the string and place your second piece of wood. Twist the string again and place down another piece of wood. Keep doing this until you run out of string.

If you like complicated directions, watch the video I mentioned.

Once you've done this, do the same for the other side, which felt a lot like weaving (right string goes under, left string goes above, left string goes under, right string goes above, etc.).

Unfortunately because my string wasn't long enough, I was off by about 3" on either side of the table. ::insert sad trombone::

But honestly, no one is going to notice at Thanksgiving when your table is set up.

Now that you have your table runner completed, want some festive candlesticks? Check out how to make apple and twig candlesticks here, otherwise find things around the house! I grabbed some popcorn kernels and candy pumpkins to fit the bill!

TOTAL COSTS: $4.25
$4.25/bundle of 15" scrap wood at Home Depot
String, popcorn kernels, candles, and pumpkins on hand - just find things around the house to decorate your candle holders! Find leaves, find acorns, find pinecones!...unless you live in Hollywood, in which case you won't find any of those things...

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 35 minutes
20 minutes on the left side
15 minutes on the right side

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
The most difficult part is just getting the string on the wood. It's not impossible, just take a while to get the hang of it. Once you do, it's a piece of cake!