ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

This is a re-post of one of my first projects for Elizabeth Joan Designs. The original content had been erased during our “Accidental Blog Deleting Incident of 2013.” These super easy DIY String Paintings were so much fun to make and are still hanging up lookin’ all cute in my bathroom. This is the type of project I feel anyone can pull off and I wanted to re-share the information with everyone in case you are looking for budget friendly artwork.

I used three separate methods for my wonderful works of art.

For the first painting, I simply wrapped a canvas with string creating horizontal, diagonal, and criss-crossed lines. I took a foam brush and used the string as a guide to paint the canvas.

My second technique was a little bit tricky.

First, I created a stamp by tightly wrapping the string around a block of wood and tapping the ends to the back.

Next, I used a foam brush to paint the home-made stamp.

Finally, I pressed the stamp firmly onto the canvas transferring the string design. I did this six different times rotating the stamp each time. Paint was reapplied in between pressings to ensure good stampage. (That’s a word. Right?)

*When using this technique, do not expect perfection or you will be extremely disappointed. It may take a little practiced to get the exact amount of paint figured out to make each pressing even.

Last but not least, here is how I made my free-hand string printing.

I dipped a long string into my chosen color of paint, carefully placed it onto the canvas, and repeated this several times until I was satisfied with my art. “Carefully” is the key word here for placing it on and taking it off.

*Warning: Haphazard string painting could lead to a mess.

What to you think? I love how these turned out! Cheap, fun and easy. My favorite kind of art!

It’s time again for The Home Depot Gift Challenge and April’s item is pegboard. The idea behind this is to purchase the named item at The Home Depot and then use it to create a gift (which is also wrapped with a product from THD.) We previously made an Industrial Book Rack and a Wood Box Caddy. Since I was already planning to use pegboard in an upcoming project, I told Emily I would volunteer to take on the challenge and make a pegboard luminary.

To start out, I headed to The Home Depot and grabbed my supplies. For this project, you will need:

Pegboard cut to size (4 – 4″x 8.5″ pieces)
1 piece of 4.75″ x 4.75″ plywood
14 Gauge Galvanized Wire
Wood Glue
Corner Clamps
Needle Nose Pliers
Paint
Sander or Sand Paper

I had my pegboard and plywood cut at the store and mistakenly gave them wonky measurements that were way to big. Oops! Luckily, with the help of my Dad and Hubby, we were able to fix the sizes. Thanks Guys!

Start by gluing the edges of two pieces of pegboard together with wood glue and then clamping them so they can dry. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Once all of that is dry, glue the remaining edges together to form a box. Below you can see the excessive clamping job that the Hubs did to keep everything snug. I think it kind of looks like a torture device. Yikes!

Next, attach the bottom plywood piece to the pegboard box with wood glue and put something on top to keep it in place (like a book) until it is dry. Then sand any rough or uneven areas and paint everything with your chosen color, being careful not to fill the holes with paint.

At this point, it is starting to look like a luminary or a cheese grater or a tiny little sky scraper. If you pop a glass hurricane and lit candle in, it definitely looks more luminary-ish.

To make the handle, feed some wire through one of the holes on the top and bend it around inside with pliers so it won’t come out.

Estimate how big you may want the handle to be and cut the wire to the appropriate length. Run the new end through a hole on the opposite side of the luminary and bend it around.

And that is it! Doesn’t it look cute sitting on the console table?

For the wrapping part of the project, I decided to keep things simple and just add a sandpaper bow.

I still need to figure out who is going to receive this gift, but for now, we are enjoying the gentle glow on our patio in the evenings!

Check out what all of the other talented participates made for this month’s challenge. (Click the photo to view their blogs.) These projects are pretty amazing!