This impressive mural (along with a few others) were made by artist Kathryn Anderson with nothing more than pushpins and yarn. We'll show you how you can create your own, step by step and with tips from the artist.
How To Make a String Tree Wall Mural
Home Hacks
Kathryn Anderson of KAndeArt has made some great wall murals out of nothing more than string and push pins. Here are her steps to creating a beautiful and unique murals from string.
What You Need
Materials
Pushpins
Brown yarn or string
A piece of wood to use as a thimble
Instructions
1. Make the Outline: Begin by putting pushpins into the wall in the general shape of the tree you'd like to create. Using a piece of wood as a "thimble" will spare your fingers from blisters and from becoming numb. Kathryn begins with a photo of a tree printed out to give her the basic guide as to the shape she's going for.
A few tips from Kathryn on designing your tree:
- Don't be too symmetrical or regular with the branches, trees are not ladders.
- Generally odd numbers of things look better than even.
- Don't try to make it too perfect. Trees grow kind of wonky.
- Don't be too linear. Jump around with the string.
2. Begin to Wrap the String: Using a brown yarn, begin to wrap the string around the push pins. Start with the trunk and then do each brand individually. Kathryn advises not to be too linear—jump around with the string and double back to give more texture or the appearance of bark. Feel free to use the same pin many times.
3. Add Character: To make knotholes, make a ring or two of pushpins and wrap the string in a circle while weaving in and out. Vary the size of branches and the spacing between them. Let branches overlap.
4. Starting and Stopping: To take a break, simply tack the string firmly into place with a pushpin and wind it around a few times to maintain tension.
Other pieces of Kathryn's creation can be viewed at KAndeArt.
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(Images: KAndeArt, used with permission)
Comments (7)
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Very pretty. I especially like the framed birds tucked into the work.
view SunnyBlue's profile
Wow! I've been looking for a 3-d way to add coral to my "underwater" kids room. Now I can just use orange yarn and a more open pattern-- any suggestions on something more safe than pushpins for the kids not to pull out and stick themselves? This will work great with the beige velvelt rocks!!
view laura@hippressurecooking's profile
I would love to do this in my new place which will have a toddler roaming about in a year. So I would propose that you do this on a cork board...or piece of wood, using the techniques explained...but then when all done, you either spray it with some kind of heavy starch, use Aleene's Fabric Stiffener and Draping Liquid. Like directions for making a doily bowl, those same tips seem like they would work http://www.craftstylish.com/item/9884/how-to-make-a-doily-bowl. I'll be trying this out soon! Thanks for the beautiful idea....kind of like the 70's copper wall art, but fresh!
flockhome.com
view glish's profile
This is SUCH a great idea, especially for rentals where they don't want paint on the walls! My kids would absolutely love this!! I also featured it in my DIY roundup yesterday. Thanks so much for sharing!!
http://www.cheepideas.com
view cheepideas's profile
You could use small brads (like "real" string art uses), but then that makes it less renter-friendly... as a landlord, I'd rather have to repaint than patch a forest of 400 brad holes! :)
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
I just have to tell you that I stumbled upon this a while back. That night, I was in a very very dark place. This article and this idea gave me something to do when nothing else was working. I just want to thank you with all my heart.
I needed this.
view EpicParadox's profile
I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I linked to this post today from the new Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. :) My hope is to share many of the fabulous projects I see everyday with the vast CG audience. Your feature will appear in the main Craft Gossip RSS feed, on the main home page and can be found directly here
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/string-tree-wall-mural/
view Amanda Formaro's profile