#mydiyprojects

[pettyrocker]

Re- purposing old wood 3: Mini Bar #mydiyprojects #repurposingwood

[pettyrocker]

Re- purposing Old Wood: Wall Decor #repurposingwood #mydiyprojects

[pettyrocker]

Re- purposing Old Wood: Address Pole and Mail box #repurposingwood #mydiyprojects

[constitutionallymoderndiy]

String-wrapped wood

And now for the centerpiece of the whole string shebang:  A striped, string-wrapped hunk of wood.  A colorful shelf for my son’s initial.

To see how I did it, read more.

I used lots of awesome knots from this book by Philippe Petit.  It’s amazing and I don’t know what I would do without it.  Actually I do.  I would make shitty knots.  I’d post photos of his instructions but that seems like an unethical breach of his hard demonstrative work.

First, painted hunk of wood all white.  Then I glittered both ends using mod podge.

I chose different types/materials of string of varying colors and width.  

Then I just started wrapping, holding it tight and occasionally trying to squish the parallel strands closer together.

After making the stripe the desired width, I knotted using a fancy knot whose name escapes me.

I then connected disparate strands with a double sheet bend.

After repeating many times, I trimmed all the extra string.

Now for the secure hanging.  I winged it, and am convinced my method was terribly inefficient.  Nonetheless, here goes:  Nailed in a bunch of picture hangers in weird directions on the wood piece to create the perfect tension from the central hanging point (which was nailed in under the white circle of the string sculpture).  I used a double handed bowline on either end of the very strong white leather string/rope I chose for hanging.  This method required two white leather strands of equal length.

[constitutionallymoderndiy]

Geometric strings and polka dots

I made this geometric string and paper dot design for my baby’s room using bright orange nylon string, turquoise polka-dot washi tape, and white paper circles.

To see how I did it, keep reading.

Set guidelines with painters tape and cheap string.

It was my intent to hang something heavy from the middle, so before proceeding, I marked the middle, then hammered in some heavy duty holders.

Over this middle spot, I hammered in a white paper circle (to cover the hanging devices).

Next, I started stringing my orange nylon string from beyond the left guide string, around the center nail, and on past the right guide string.

For each additional string, I simply measured an equal distance vertically.  I believe I did 3 inches.

To finish the strings, I poked two holes in the remaining white circles using a nail.  With the help of a sewing tool, I then loosely strung these on the orange nylon string and didn’t situate them perfectly until I was completely done with all else.

My next step was to add two side-by-side strips of washi tape just inside of the white guide string.  Press firmly as you pull the string tight (though not so tight that the string is constantly in a struggle to pull through the tape).  Trim ends once this has been done on both sides.

Once I finished this short wall, I tackled the long wall, using the same process.

I found that with this extra-long version, when adding the middle circles it was very helpful to add surrounding tape to help get the end circles into the proper place.

Voila.  An awesome, cheap wall decoration that cannot fall on top of a sleeping baby.  Mission accomplished.

Lessons learned:  nylon string (and perhaps most/all string) will absorb humidity!  The strings on the long wall function like a barometer.  In the summer on humid days they all sag and look terrible.  But as soon as the humidity is gone, the entire structure bounces back as if nothing was wrong and looks amazing.  Blows my feeble little mind.  If you live in humid weather and have to have your windows open a lot, I suggest choosing a short wall.  My short wall strings barely ever sag, and when they do it is minimal.

[constitutionallymoderndiy]

Baby’s room makeover

Making a baby meant making the spare room into a real bedroom.

AFTER (nice)

BEFORE (chaos)

Tutorials on the various elements soon to come.