How to Make String Art: Silhouette, Negative Space and Sunburst

Cut out your template and lay it where you want the design on the wood. Tape it down at several points so it cannot shift while you hammer. The Hobby Lobby team uses a bunny on an oval wood slice. Any simple shape with a clear outline works. Center it by eye, or measure from the edges if you want it exact.

Tap nails in right along the edge of the template, spaced evenly. Use nails with heads, which stop the string slipping off later. Put them closer together on tight curves and farther apart on straight runs. Keep every nail at the same height. It looks better and makes the stringing go much faster.

In tight spots, grip each nail with needle nose pliers while you hammer. The pliers keep it straight and keep your fingers out of the way. This matters most on small details like the bunny's ears or the inside of a letter. When all the nails are in, tear away the paper template.

Tie the yarn to any nail, leaving a short tail you can tuck in later. Work all the way around the outline, looping the string once around every nail. Keep the tension tight and even, and push the yarn down toward the wood as you go. For a smooth edge, always wrap clockwise. Alternating directions gives a wavy edge instead.

With the outline done, stretch the yarn from nail to nail across the shape, crisscrossing in every direction. Use each nail as many times as you like. Make the fill as light or as dense as you want. A dense fill reads as a solid shape from across the room, and a sparse one looks airy and modern.

When the shape is filled, tie the yarn around a nail with a double knot. Trim the end and tuck the tail into the design so it disappears, and do the same with the starting tail. Your silhouette string art is done. Add a sawtooth hanger on the back, or stand it on a shelf or small easel.

For the negative space style, the string fills the area around your shape. Leave the letter template whole and nail straight through the paper around the outline. That keeps detailed curves in place. Then add a row of nails around the edge of the board as a border, and pull the paper away.

Outline the letter and the border with yarn, the same way as the bunny. Then crisscross the yarn between the letter's outline and the border, filling the background. The bare wood inside the letter is now the design. Finish with a knot and hide the tail. It works well for initials and short names.

The focal point style uses straight, even lines from an outer border to an inner shape, like sun rays. Do not start at any old nail. Begin at one edge so you can work smoothly all the way around to the other side. Run the yarn back and forth between the circle and the cactus outline.

The cactus has fewer nails than the outer circle. To keep the rays evenly spaced, wrap two or three times around some cactus nails while wrapping each outside nail only once. When you reach the far side, tie off and hide the tail. The finished sunburst draws the eye right to the cactus.