Nailed It

With so many rooms in our house in need of DIY attention, it’s nice to sometimes distract ourselves from the mess and chaos we are living in, and do something completely impractical and pretty for a change.

You may have already noticed some of our art throughout the house, like our butterfly picture in the living room

or our Kandinsky inspired canvases in the dining room.

It’s nice to add personal touches which make a house a home. One of the first pictures I created after just moving into our new home is this “Home Sweet Home” pin and thread art.

I love that it’s three dimensional and I love that the shadows it creates at different times of day always make it look different.

To make your own pin and thread art all you have to do is paint a piece of MDF with some emulsion. Then choose a pattern, picture or like me some typography that you would like to turn in to your pin and thread art, print it and attach it to your MDF board.

Carefully nail your pins into the board tracing the outline of your design. The more pins you use the more exact the finished image will be. When you have finished, you can just tear away the paper you’ve been using as a template.

Now for the fun bit. Using some standard thread, trace around the needles. I didn’t want my art to be too neat and tidy, so I played around with the thread before wrapping it around the needles.

For instance, if you double it up a few times and then twist and pull it back and forth you will create knots and random free strands. Just keep adding thread till you are happy with the thickness. I think the loose threads and knotted areas give the picture more character.

That’s all there is to it. I decided to frame my art, just to keep it dust-free. Yep, feel free to call me lazy – I just hate dusting.

Here it is on the wall in the hallway in front of the office.

Have you made any of your own artwork? Or have you even made some pin and thread art? We’d love to see some of your art!