String Art Hearts

I've been seeing String Art popping up everywhere and decided to try doing an art project with the kids using a heart shape for February.  

I went to a home improvement store and they had long 1" X 4" pine boards.  I asked a very nice employee to cut my board into 4" lengths.

Next I created a heart pattern and put dots about every 1/4" for the nails.  Here is the pattern:

Cut out a heart and tack it to the center of the wood square with a nail.  Then go around the heart with the nails.   Hammer the nails into the wood carefully, leaving about 1/2" above the board to wind the string around.

Now the board is ready for the kids to paint whatever acrylic color they choose.

Once dry they will choose a coordinating skein of embroidery floss.

First tie one end of the floss to a nail and then wind the string around each nail towards the outside all the way around to create a border.

Now they can choose how to criss cross back and forth across the heart to create an interesting pattern.  

They may choose to randomly wind the string across, or do a layered pattern on the diagonal.  

This is up to them.  

When they are finished simply tie the end of the string in a knot around another nail.

A fun project that will look great on the wall or on a shelf!