Baby J's Nail-Thread Art

When I started thinking of Baby J's nursery, I knew I wanted to include some sort of art/print of Louisiana so he would always know where his roots are no matter where we may live. I knew I wanted to make some sort of Louisiana-shaped art for the nursery, but I was unsure of really what I wanted to do...that is, until I found this idea...

You may remember this post where I spoke about creating nail-thread art for Baby J's nursery. I actually have NO idea what this would or should really be called, so I have deemed it as nail-thread art. Anyway, I found the original idea on Pinterest (duh <--- yeah, I'm bringing that back...) and soon started searching the internet to see where I could buy one. I found them at Uncommon Goods but was immediately saddened to see the price- over $100!

After re-cooperating from thinking I would NEVER be able to justify spending that much money for this, and then convincing myself that I COULD indeed MAKE one, I started searching. Searching Pinterest (again). Not too long into my search, I came across this awesome tutorial (be sure to check out both parts 1 and 2) and knew I could do this! She has LOTS of cute ideas on her blog, so be sure to stay awhile. Anyways, back to my project....

Below are the steps I followed and what seemed to work best for me. You can refer back to Sam's instructions if you wish as they are much more detailed. I thank her for teaching me the best way to tie the string and I'm pretty sure she saved me LOTS of time. If I ever meet her, I'll have to remember to thank her. :)

Here's a sneak peak of what the finished product looks like! 

So, without further ado, I used a frame I had hanging in what would become Baby J's nursery. At the time, it held one of my Grandma O'Meara's paintings. I thought the mat inside the frame would be the perfect size and would allow me to make my state a little larger than 5x7. I didn't want anything huge, but figured anything smaller would be very difficult to thread. 

I got Hubby to cut me a piece of quarter-inch particle board that we already had on hand. He cut it to fit the inside of the frame. For the paint, I used a sample we had purchased and subsequently ruled-out as a wall color possibility. This shade of grey (haha) is a little darker than the room color will be, but is still similar so I thought it would mesh well. 

I used a foam brush to apply several (I think I ended up doing 3-4) coats of paint to the particle board. 

I'm pretty impatient, so to help it dry faster, I rigged up this little operation...

Once the board was dry and the paint was even, I started hammering my nails. I found my state cutout online and simply played around with it until it was the perfect size then cut it out. You can see someone (eh hem, Dellie) had a little fun one day with some crayons on it... :)

I had previously purchased a box of small nails and grey/silver thread from Lowes, so after taping the state to the board, I pulled them out. I put two soft pot holders and a piece of wood under my board as I would be nailing and didn't want to nail directly over my table. Even though I usually go for the distressed look, I really didn't want my table top to be that distressed!

I taped my state to the board and then drew a heart where I wanted it to go. (I basically put it in between New Roads and Zachary since that's where myself and the Hubs are from and where Baby J's roots are located).  

I started at one point and hammered and nailed my way around the entire state, being sure to keep the nails about the same distance apart yet close enough for it not to look weird. I nailed around the heart last and it was mighty difficult! I sort of just eyeballed it the entire way around. As I nailed, I also tried to make sure they were nailed in the board enough to be sturdy and also tried to get them as straight as possible. 

Here's another view after the nails were completed but before I (carefully!) removed the paper. 

Next, I picked one point and tied the thread around one of the nails around the outside of the state. I then went back and forth from the heart to the outside, wrapping the string around each nail and pulling tightly. I continued to do this around the entire state. When I got to the last nail, I tied the thread around it then used some super glue as a reinforcement. 

I am glad I chose an outline of the state that shows the detail of South LA, but it really proved to be difficult. I thought at one point I was going to have to give up when I was attempting to wrap the string around Lake Pontchartrain, but I ended up doing what I think was a pretty ok job when it was all said and done. I can actually remember cussing the intricate detail of South LA as I was going! :)

Looking back, I probably should have made the state a little larger, as it would have been easier, but I think it came out great. The little details are not perfect, but it was made with love. 

This project makes me feel at home and I know I will enjoy looking at it in Baby J's nursery for a long long time!