String Art Christmas Tree Tutorial

Wood boards are available at home improvement warehouses in a precut size of 2 feet by 4 feet, which is an ideal size for this string art Christmas tree. While you can paint it just one color, I decided to give the wood a weathered look by layering two colors and sanding off some of the top coat. To achieve this look, start with one color for the bottom coat. I chose a deep red. This is the color that will peek through the main color.

Using 120 grit sandpaper, distress the top layer of paint, allowing some of the undercoat to show through in various sections. The sandpaper adds a vintage feel to the wood.

Draw a triangular tree shape on the wood board using a pencil and a long ruler or measuring tape, indicating marks at one-inch intervals where you will be placing nails. This is essentially your Christmas tree string art template.

Hammer nails into the board where you indicated. String art nail size isn't important as long as you choose nails with a large head, which will help secure the yarn when it wraps around each nail.

To guide you when stringing the yarn, apply masking tape next to the nails and number each nail. Start at the top and write #1, and go clockwise until each nail has a corresponding number. This example has 92 nails in it, with number 1 at the top, number 38 at the bottom right, number 54 at the bottom left, and number 92 back at the top. Numbering the nails might seem like an extraneous step, but it really helps you keep track of your string patterns.

For the first color, tie the end of the yarn at nail number 1. Then take the yarn to the bottom of the tree and wrap it around number 41. Go up to number 2, and then down to 42. Up to 3 and then 43, and so on. You can see how the numbers take a lot of the confusion away about how to string the yarn. Keeping track of the numbers also helps you avoid accidentally skipping a nail. For the first color, I only went as far as nail number 80, a third of the way up the left side instead of going all the way back to number 1 at the top because I wanted an asymmetrical pattern.

For the second color, we'll want to fill in the space at the top of the tree. To achieve this effect, tie the end of the yarn once again at nail number 1, go across to the left side of the tree and wrap it around nail number 61. Then go back to the right side to number 2, then to number 62, then 3 then 63, and so on until you get to the last nail, number 92. Notice I always count in tens to make it easier to remember where I'm going.

For the third color, we want to fill in the space at the bottom of the tree. Start the yarn midway on the right, tying the end around nail number 20. Then go down and wrap the yarn around number 40, then up to 21, then down to 41, then 22 and 42, and so on.

To top off your tree, make a star shape with the five nails above the tree using all three yarn colors.