*Just want to give a quick shout out to Design Mom (not that she needs it) for posting this link on her blog. So cool! Thanks Gabrielle!
So, I was at Anthropologie the other day. While browsing I saw these amazing letters on the wall made with nails and string. I took this quick photo. The letters said "Home Sweet Home." Gotta love Anthropologie...so inspiring. So I thought I'd go home and try to make my own nail and string letters.
The wall space above my kitchen cabinets was begging for something. So that's where I thought I'd try this out. I decided to write "Bon Appetit," since it was going in the kitchen.
DIY: Nail and String Letters (Inspired by Anthropologie)
1. Find a font and font size you like. It will be much easier if you chose a font with no serifs. The font I used was Bell Gothic Std Black. Print out the letters to make banner. Make sure all letters are correctly spaced and strait.
2. Hang the banner where you'd like the string letters to be. Step back. Make sure the banner is strait and that everything looks the way you want it. This is important. Take your time on this one.
3. Now break out the nails! Place a mark on each nail 3/4 inch away from the head. This will help when deciding how far to put the nail into the wall.
4. Put a nail in each corner of each letter and also around any curves. Decide how many nails you're going to use around the curves and be consistent with each curve.
5. Carefully tear off the paper. You'll have to pull the paper around the letters, so you don't yank any nails out of the wall.
6. Get out the string and start wrapping. I used embroidery floss I already had on hand. To begin, tie a knot to one nail and start wrapping. When you're finished, tie the end to the same nail. I went around each letter 7 times with the string.
Now step back and look at how awesome your new wall looks. :)
If you're looking for other cheap ways to decorate your walls, you might like this or this.
What a fun idea- I've seen a similar project on Apartment Therapy where they made a tree- something I've wanted to try in my office with the monkeys.
ReplyDeleteThat's really great looking!
ReplyDeletegreat tutorial. we all love anthropolgie, don't we?
ReplyDeletevery cool idea.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fun and colorful. I love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool idea! I think I'm going to try this in my son's room because his walls are already nail covered so a few extra nail holes won't make that much of a difference.
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know that I featured your wonderful post here. Hope you can swing by and join my Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop tomorrow at 5 pm, PST :)
ReplyDeleteSaw this on Pinterest... thanks for the great tutorial! Love how your letters turned out! :)
ReplyDeleteHow cute and creative! I love how you used multiple colors. Thanks for sharing =)
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Homemaker on a Dime...
Great idea! And much cheaper than the galvanized letters at Anthro.
ReplyDeletethis is absolutely amazing!! I am so going to try this, I just have to figure out where!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea, and so easy!! Printing the banner is so smart.
ReplyDeleteThis is so gorgeous I can barely take it! I love the font and color choices you made. This is definitely going on my long term to-do list - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVery Unique! I think I will do this and paint the nail heads the same color as the yarn. <3
ReplyDeletegreat idea. i think that might give it a whole new look.
DeleteI have the same dreaded soffits above my cabinets in my kitchen, which get rather dusty. Have do you keep your letters clean? Do you vacuum them? I'm here from Modern Parents Messy Kids.
ReplyDeleteI have the same soffits (sp?) above my kitchen cabinets, and the area gets very dusty. (Gross in a kitchen!). How do you keep the letters clean? Do you vacuum them? I'm here from Modern Parents Messy Kids.
ReplyDeleteI haven't attempted to clean them yet. They haven't gotten too dirty. I'll probably try a vacuum when the time comes.
DeleteMy friend has a great trick for cleaning dust from the top of her cabinets. She lays paper towels on the top of all her cabinets. They collect the dust, and then she just changes the paper towels every month or so. Genius, right? I think so. :)
I have never tried this but, supposedly a spray made of one part liquid fabric softener to four parts water, mixed well and sprayed onto textiles until slightly damp will help repel build up of dust.
DeleteLove this!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing idea. Our house has a very open floor plan. The space over the living room is open completely all the way up to the gabled second story ceiling. Lots of cool geometrical angles and neat smaller spaces highlighted to draw your eye up. Including the huge ten foot high triangle that overlooks the living room. It's the first thing you see when you walk in either the front or side door from the garage. I decided to hang a collection of clocks up there. However, that wall looks huge from down on the ground but in reality it is gigantic! My collection looked sad and tiny way up there and had to come down immediately! So, for the last two years Ive been collecting clocks but have still yet to manage to gather enough. I have to do it the hard way and want unique clocks, not just a variety of brand new ones. Of course. So, while Im scouring thrift stores, yard sales, etc. that ginormously blank wall stares down, taunting me, which is incredibly rude, I think! So, I think I shall silence the taunting w/letters like these!!! I will do "Welcome" or some variation of the idea of welcoming everyone into our home, since it's the first thing you see! Thanks so much for the inspiration and I can NOT wait to get started on this!
ReplyDeletegreat! i'd love to see pictures!
Deletewhat a great idea and tutorial. Wonder how that would look on a sign instead of a wall? Sounds like fun and I just found a bunch of string out in our shed. Great project, art and inexpensive, what a concept.
ReplyDeleteThat really looks good.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute idea. I love this!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try this in our elementary library. Fiction, non fiction, reference, etc. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. I'd love to see pics when you're done!
DeleteKarla...you beat me to it...I was just planning this out in my head for when I get my elementary library. Awesome! I'm going to mount them onto wooden boards so they can be moved if needed and so the principal doesn't freak out. :)
DeleteThis is so Awesome! I love it.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job. I will be trying this for sure!!
How do u print a banner??
ReplyDeleteI printed each letter on its own sheet of paper and taped the pages together. I know you can make banners with certain programs like Microsoft Publisher.
DeleteThanks for the inspiration! I used it in my blog: http://blog.rondomeva.nl/2012/11/een-kamertje-vol-liefde/
ReplyDeleteThats looking awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteVery Cool!
ReplyDeleteFound you via pinterest and used your tutorial! Linked back to you in my blog :) http://beunruffled.blogspot.com/2013/01/bon-appetit.html
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting it was a GREAT tut!
Found this via A Girl and a Glue Gun. GREAT simple tutorial! Thanks
ReplyDeleteOur youth room at our church needed some fun wall flair so ours is the word SERVE. It looks cute in our kitchenette. THanks for the easy to follow directions.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have an idea of how to get the nails to stay in old plaster walls, like in old school building. Maybe a special nail I can use??
ReplyDeleteI love this idea for my Sunday school class for inspirational words. But nothing will stay hung on my classroom plastered walls. Thank you for your help and wonderful decorating ideas.
Where did you get the string from???
ReplyDeleteI used embroidery floss, and I got it from Joann's.
DeleteYou can find it here:
Link http://www.joann.com/search/_embroidery%20floss/
You could also use yarn.
I'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your project! You can see it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://funfamilycrafts.com/nail-and-string-letters/
If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
These are really fun! Thanks for sharing your idea.
ReplyDelete