Not quite done with the next one, but I've had a request for directions, so I thought I'd post what I had so far.


State String Art!  My inspiration comes from a friend of mine's "Pins I actually made!" board.

Source: Uploaded by user via Keleigh on Pinterest

I decided that I wanted to do three states for my husband and I; where I'm from, where he's from, and where we met and live.


Materials:

• board (the board I bought was a gigantic 4 foot pine panel from Lowe's)
• Nails (I bought wire nails, 7/8 X 17 is the size listed on the container, not that it's much help without the unit)
• string (I used normal white sewing thread)
• hammer
• state outline
• paint or stain 

The first thing I did was stain my board.  I think I wanted more of a cherry but we already had a dark walnut stain at home, so I went ahead with the walnut.

Then I found state outlines and printed them out.  I enlarged mine so they would still fit on a single piece of paper, but there is a way you can get it done online to block it on more than one piece of paper.  But I don't remember what the site is, lol.  I'll update once I find that out.

After cutting out the outlines, I taped the outlines to the board.  I decided to start with Nevada since it's the middle state and one of the easier ones.  I hammered in nails around the outside of the template.

I probably could have nailed them closer together.  It might have helped with the overall appearance of the finished piece. Once I was finished with the state outline, I made a heart around where we live.  Then I picked a corner and tied the string to one of the nails.  After that, it's super important to hold onto the thread because you don't tie off the thread until you go all the way around the state.  

I plan on going back around a second time to make the thread more noticeable.  I think if I'd hammered the nails in closer, the thread might have stood out more.

I then moved onto Kansas.  I tried a different, more chaotic string wrapping technique, which I later cut off.

And here we have the finished piece so far.  I'll probably be redoing Kansas and quite frankly, New York scares me.

A friend on Instagram posted this nifty state string art of Louisiana, and I think it will help me solve my New York dilemma. Posting these directions has inspired me to possibly finish, so an update may be coming soon.

Which state would you be scared to attempt in string?

First blog post, better be a good one!  


Being an elementary school teacher, I was instantly drawn to the idea of melted crayon art.  For the life of me I can't find the blog that this picture belongs to (if you know, don't hesitate to let me know.  I'd love to give credit where credit is due!) but this was the picture that inspired my first piece of melted crayon art.

Materials:

• crayons (I used two of the 64 count Crayola boxes)
• canvas(es) (Again, I used two)
• hot glue gun
• hair dryer or heat gun (I used a hair dryer, but I've heard a heat gun works wonders)
• paint (optional, for if you want to include images)

The first thing I did was find two pictures that I wanted to paint onto my canvases.  

Up Close

The Ballerina

The Little Girl Dreaming of becoming a Ballerina

Then came the excruciatingly tedious chore of peeling off the crayon labels.  I've seen some art pieces that have left the labels on.  I might just have to do that next time.

After what seemed like hours, I used a hot glue gun to put the crayons on the canvases. You can't put down a lot of glue. It won't last and you may need to hold down some of the crayons.

Then, it was time for some melting magic!  I will say that a power outage does not help with this process.  I do have some wax lumps from when I'd first started when the power went out.

And then the power went out

I don't think I've fully finished the piece because I'd like to go back in and cut away the wax that dripped on the painting.  I'll heat up an X-acto knife and then try to trim away from the dancers.  Then I'll go back in and repaint the ballerinas.

Not quite the finished product

So there you have my first (and only, thus far) melted crayon project.  I've also informed my husband that we must now have a little girl so we can hang this in her room.  If not, it'll end up going to my niece, along with some other fun projects I've done that I will share with you in blogs to come.


What creative, crafty projects have you done with melted crayons?