string art

January 5, 2012

in Mom blogs

I woke up Monday morning with a vision…

string art …a vision for a string art installation.

I often decorate in my sleep.

The wall above the orange couch has been haunting me for years.  The window is off-center.

Just a little off-center.

Not ENOUGH off-center to be charming.

I have tried multiple picture layouts to try to decrease the obvious off-centeredness, but it didn’t look right.

So when I thought up the string art idea in the middle of the night, I couldn’t wait to get started.

Simple, right?

I drew out the plan to make sure the angle would miss the window.

string art planIt did.

When I measured, I was surprised that the height of the wall and the width were the same.  It is a square wall which is perfect for a simple string art pattern.

Each edge was 8′ long.  Each nail was positioned 1/4″ apart.

384 nails on the top.

384 nails on the side.

diy string artI used masonry string and found that it came in white, hot pink and this orange caution color.   The rolls each contained 425 feet.  Each roll would wrap 32 nails.

12 rolls.

There is just a few feet shy of a MILE of string on my wall!

Thankfully, by the time I got to the third roll of string, Ryan offered his help.  He and I spent hours looping the string around a nail head and then reaching to give it the other person to do the same.

Back and forth.

And so on.

Even though it took us awhile, the process is very satisfying.  We could see the progress and marvel how straight string lines can create such an amazing curve.

string art closeupThe colors between the rolls varied a bit and then the color is intensified with layering.

In some areas it is a tonal rainbow.

As we neared the floor, Rhett wanted to help.  I was surprised at how much help both Ryan and Rhett could lend.  I would NEVER have finished without them.

We love how it turned out.

string artAnd as for me…

I am praying that my next decorating dream is a bit less tedious.

{ 2 trackbacks }

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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }

Sherry Carr-Smith January 5, 2012 at 8:59 pm

This looks amazing! I seriously love it. I wonder if my kids would leave it alone…probably not. But, hey, I’m going to Pin it for someday!

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Rebecca - A Daily Something January 5, 2012 at 9:04 pm

Holy cow, your dreams must be so so sweet. This is so well done, and just AMAZING!

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Mindy Howard January 5, 2012 at 9:15 pm

Cool

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Pgoodness January 5, 2012 at 9:22 pm

Astounding!!! I love it!!

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Kim January 5, 2012 at 9:28 pm

You are simply amazing!

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Shannon January 5, 2012 at 9:29 pm

That is unbelievable Holly! WOW. Its so modern and striking- and yet understated. I just love it! That is the coolest thing I have seen on the web in a long time.

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Trista January 5, 2012 at 9:58 pm

I want whatever you’re taking to sleep at night.

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Kimberly January 5, 2012 at 10:01 pm

Trista took the words right out of my mouth. Gorgeous!

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JDaniel4's Mom January 6, 2012 at 6:27 am

How wonderful! I love the color you chose!

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Beth (A Mom's Life) January 6, 2012 at 10:35 am

Wow! That is stunning! Simply stunning.

And I love that your boys helped you.

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nicole January 6, 2012 at 11:53 am

That. is. awesome. I will hire you and your boys to do something awesome somewhere in my house.

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Sylvia January 6, 2012 at 2:34 pm

And now it is charming. :-)

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Terri January 6, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Wow! It looks stunning!!

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Amy @ Living Locurto January 6, 2012 at 3:32 pm

No way! No wonder I haven’t heard from you in a while. Now I know what you’ve been doing! ha. Totally cool!

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Lea Ann January 6, 2012 at 5:25 pm

I’m sure you sheered the sheep, dyed the wool, and spun the yarn too. Didn’t you. :-) It is DMA-worthy.

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melissa r January 7, 2012 at 11:18 am

Wow!!

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MommyTime January 7, 2012 at 6:00 pm

I love this! It looks so good with that couch, too. What a great idea. I hope all your dreams are so inspired!

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LibraryGirl62 January 7, 2012 at 9:30 pm

That is AMAZING! i would never have the balls to pull that off! SO Cool!

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JCK (Motherscribe) January 7, 2012 at 11:41 pm

You continue to inspire with your creativity and energy! This is awesome. Love it. Isn’t it amazing when your kids share in the project!?

Happy New Year, Holly!

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buffi January 8, 2012 at 2:36 pm

I’m pretty sure I would never have the patience to complete (much less the smarts or fortitude to start it!). You’re my hero!

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Rachel - A Southern Fairytale January 8, 2012 at 9:15 pm

I’m beyond impressed, Holly. That’s pretty spectacular!

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Heather January 9, 2012 at 1:25 pm

That’s great! How long did it take?

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Wendy January 10, 2012 at 9:44 am

You never cease to amaze me. Great idea Holly.

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Rashmie @ Mommy Labs January 12, 2012 at 9:49 am

This is mind blowing! What a vision and its execution! LOVE it!!

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Gilly January 28, 2012 at 4:16 am

This is phenomenal. I’m not sure if I’m just having a brain fart moment or not but how did you get such a clean arch? I would think it would come out looking like a triangle. You’re amazing.

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Minnie January 29, 2012 at 2:04 pm

I love it, but I’m not sure I follow how you went about stringing it from which nail to the other? I’d love to do this.

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Mare May 13, 2012 at 7:46 pm

One of the truly original decorating ideas I have seen recently

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Danielle June 17, 2012 at 6:32 am

WOW!!! It looks AMAZING!!!

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