Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.

This has got to be one of my favorite/most hated  pinterest crafts! I love the way it came out, but BOY was it tedious! Not to mention, I had some black and blue fingers from hammering all those tiny nails!
This is the original pin! (click the photo to take you there!)

I decided to take a step farther, and went for a simple monogram for above our bed!   Here's what you'll need!

 - A piece of wood (I got mine at Home Depot for $5) -Spray paint or acrylic paint to cover the wood -LOTS of nails! I used two packs! Use a short nail- less than 1" tall, and with a wide nail head so the string wont slip off! -Crochet thread of your color of choice! Yarn would work too, but yarn fuzzes! -A paper print out of your design! -Atrusty hammer -Ruler for spacing  -Super glue -Picture hanging wire and clips -TIME and lots of it!
Step 1

 First Paint your wood. I painted mine a metallic slate color that matches everything else I've spray painted in our apartment. It has a little shimmer, which really makes the string pop!
Step 2

Measure out your border. Since I did my design backwards, I needed a border AND letters to be outlined so that the letters were open. I placed and nailed a nail every 1/2 inch so that it would be close enough to be tight but not too spread out. This is the most time consuming part.
*Make sure you nail in the nails enough. Wiggle them a little to make sure, or else you'll be sorry later when they pop out when your in the middle of stringing them!*

Step 3

 

 

 Once you have your border completed, its time to add your design. In my case, it was 3 letters. I printed them out, then cut them out, and pinned them to the board where I wanted them. Once you have the design where you want, just like the border, nail the design in 1/2" at a time! 

And voila! You have all your nails done and are ready to string!
Step 4

  Start stringing! (I totally forgot to take photos of this part, oops!) I started the string in the bottom corner and knotted it on the corner nail. I super glued the knot, just in case!

Then go wild! There is NO rhyme or reason to the stringing! I took mine and looped it around 2x each nail so that it stayed taught. I was able to complete the entire stringing (except the inside of the 'A' with one continuous piece of string! You just criss and cross til your done!

Step 5

 Once your done, just flip the board over and measure out a couple inches on each side to mount the hanging wire! Super easy!
Step 6

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, but you get the idea! Also, I know, I haven't purchased pillows for our bed and it looks naked!

Hang away! We put ours over our bed and it is the perfect over-the-bed artwork! Not too girly and catches the light! (You just can't tell with this crap-tastic photo I took!)
This was such an easy project, it just took a lot of time nailing in all the nails. Once you get the hang of it, it goes really fast, but beware of smashing your fingers! It will happen!
Let me know if you try this and how it comes out! Be sure to link up and share!