Oregon Art

I grew up in Oregon, graduated from college in Oregon (GO Beavs!!), found and married my husband up in Oregon, and most of my family and friends still live in Oregon. It is no surprise that in my heart, Oregon holds a very special place.

Awwww...

So, a few days/weeks ago, not actually sure when I saw the inspiration for this, but with Pinterest it is hard to remember "when" because I can lose hours on there without even really trying to. It is crazy. A whole new time warp that is so much fun, but can be very dangerous if you're trying to get stuff done, because your time will evaporate. Okay, maybe not for any of you, but it does for me. ;)

This project is very, very, VERY easy to do. I gathered up my supplies for less than $10- and I have several of the supplies leftover for other projects that I will be posting also. It does however take a bit of patience and time. I ended up re-stringing this project three times before I was happy with the result and it looked the way I had envisioned it. :)




Supplies:
1 spool of string- any color you want I used Navy blue (The kind you use for a sewing machine.) *not pictured

1 package of nails (Mine were from Wal-Mart for 97 cents- hardware section.)

1 package of picture hangers (You need only 1, mine were at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 and there were 6 in the pack. At Home Depot, they sell you only 2 and they are almost $3.)

1 small can of stain (I used Minwax Wood Finish in Weathered Oak- it gave the board an antiqued/weathered look and I love it.) *not pictured

1 piece of wood in desired size (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for $2, they are normally $3 but they are on sale right now- so if you have a Hobby Lobby head on over and pick one out. They have lots of different shapes and it could be really fun! Of course you can also buy one at Home Depot, I didn't price them out though.)

1 paper printout of your desired state. (Pulled mine off a Google search- just google your state and use the words "--- state outline" and find one you like.) *not pictured

Crayon or Carbon Paper *not pictured

Scissors *not pictured

Pen *not pictured

Sandpaper 120 grit *not pictured

Hammer *not pictured

Needle-nose Pliers *not pictured

Step 1: Sand your piece of wood, to get any roughness off before you place your state outline. Set sandpaper aside for later.

Step 2: Cut your state shape out leaving an extra bit of white around it. Keep the scrap for later.

Step 3: Color the back of your paper with the crayon. If you are using Carbon paper, you don't have to do the coloring the paper, just use the carbon paper. :)

Step 4: Position your state on the board the way you would like it. If using the carbon paper, have the carbon paper between the state paper and the board.

Step 5: Trace over your state with a pen. Press firmly, so the shape transfers fully. If need be repeat in areas that didn't take so well or have details you need.

Step 6: Take scrap paper from Step 2, and cut out a heart shape. Tip: fold the paper in half and cut your heart half that way, so your heart is symmetrical. :)

Step 7: Trace your heart in desired area, you can always use a map for this, and I have my heart centered around Corvallis.



Step 8: If you like what you see, fantastic! Keep going. If not, sand all of the marks off and repeat Steps 4-7.

Step 9: Take your hammer and one nail, and lightly indent your state and heart outline's borders. You are setting a guide for where you will hammer the nails in a bit. This will help you out a lot. :)

Step 10: Sand the entire board so you can not see the markings of your outline, just the holes that you just completed in Step 9. Use a nail to empty the holes from sawdust, because you need it to be clear of dust before proceeding.

Step 11: Stain your board. Follow the directions on your can of stain for this part. Each is different, but the basic gist is the same. Apply stain, wait, rub off, repeat until desired shade is achieved. Do in a well ventilated area, not the dining room where your kids can complain about the smell- not that I would know anything about that.

Step 12: Now for the fun part. Placing your nails into all of the holes. I started with the heart and then worked my way around the state. Really depends on where the heart is if you do that or not, if your heart is near a border, I would recommend it, but whatever works for you. Try to keep the nails at the same depth too, for uniformity. :) Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step. :/

Step 13: If your nails are a little wonky, use your pliers to straighten them out. I also did this to see if I needed to add any nails for a bare spot, I ended up adding a couple of them, and still had to do one on the heart right before I finished up.

Step 14: Take an end of your spool of thread and make a sliding knot. Place that knot around a nail in your heart. Tie a square knot to secure it in place, trim the end so you are tethered to your piece with the spool of thread.

Step 15: Wrap your thread around a border nail and return to the *same* heart nail you started with.

Step 16: Proceed to the next border nail then return to the same heart nail. Complete this process until each border nail has been tethered to a heart nail. This part is entirely up to you on how you proceed with it. It is a piece of art- each piece will be completely different- that is why art is so cool!

Step 17: Fill in any areas that you think are needed to complete the look. I seriously did Steps 14-17 while watching an hour long show that was DVR'd and had time left over, so this really didn't take too long to do. You can see progress quickly, and you get into a rhythm after a bit.




Step 18: Attach to the back of your piece the wall hanger. I did this, but then I ended up putting it in a plate holder on my mantle. :)

That's it!

Now I'm off to finish 2 other projects, but I will be posting the other one I finished yesterday- tomorrow, and the other 2 the day after tomorrow. :)