Vintage Ampersand String Art DIY

Ashley and I of Agape Films are super excited to announce the launch of our photo + video creative collaboration! Part of teaming up together means blogging useful wedding DIY's for all you brides out there! We will be blogging a different DIY instructional post twice a month right here on the Mullins² blog! Here's our first, String Art!

Did you know that string art has been around since the 70’s? We decided to take a trip back in time and create something very affordable, and reusable for your wedding day. We call it “Vintage Ampersand String Art”! We chose an ampersand design because it could easily apply to anyone’s wedding (or some cute home decor!) This project would be perfect to place as a table centerpiece or at the head table at your wedding. Below we outlined the steps as well as what you will need.

Ingredients: A peice of wood board, (we used a peice of old reclaimed barn wood and stained it) a hammer, 1.5 inch nails, string (you can choose whatever color goes with the color scheme of your wedding), and a template/pattern. (You can download the one we used here.)

Lay out the paper template on the board and nail down some of the sides to hold the paper down. Once you have it set, hammer down each nail about ½ inch apart. You can measure and draw a dot between each ½ inch space if you want a guide to follow.

You want those nails sticking up about ¾ inch from the board. The result is a lot of nails...Now for the fun part, ripping the paper off from underneath! Make sure the paper you are using isn't too thick or it will be really difficult to remove. 

Once you have removed the paper, take the string and tie the end off at one side of your letter/symbol.

Start wrapping the strings around the nails, the possibilities are endless, make your own design, just be sure to trace the outside. You can do it in sections which means you would trace the outside of the selected section, make a design on the inside, then move on to the next section. 

Once you are finished with the first round, tie it off somewhere and then start the process again to make it look thicker.
And there you have it, a beautifully simple decor item. This could totally end up in your living room after the wedding and be just as cute as it was the day of the wedding!
If you have any questions don't hesitate to comment or email us! Thanks for reading!