DIY Feather String Art

I love owls. White ceramic owls mostly. I loved owls before owls were trending. It’s odd really, growing up my aunt and uncle had a stuffed owl (taxidermy stuffed, not plushy cute stuffed) and it was perched on a shelf overlooking the kitchen and dining room. I swear to you that owls eyes followed you wherever you went in the room, no lie. It creeped me out so much, yet here I am – a lover of all things owl.

Anyhow, I’m not here to discuss my addiction to owls but to talk about feathers. Yup, feathers!

I was browsing Pinterest for different string art ideas and came across a couple of these photo’s:

Etsy // Bink Bunbun

A little more intricate than the deer silhouette’s and typography I was finding, due to the fact that your nails seemed to be spaced that much closer together and you’re working in a smaller area when it comes to wrapping your string. Challenge on. As I was pinning, the BF had been experimenting in the garage with his blowtorch and some plywood. He had burnt a piece that was 1’6″x4.5″ and was about to toss it when it dawned on me that it was the perfect size to try some feather string art! I drew out what I wanted my feather to look like and cut it out of a scrap newspaper. I tacked it down with a couple of nails to hold it in place. I used a 2/4″ finishing nail with a broader head so that the string couldn’t slip off the top. I spaced the nails just over 3/8″ all the way around the template. Once I had the border done, I removed the template and did the ‘vein’ down the centre spacing the nails at the same distance. I started at the bottom and tied a knot around the bottom most nail. From there I just wrapped the string taut around the nails of the stem until I reached the base of the feather. I brought the string to the centre vein and went up on either side in a V pattern, always coming back to the centre. When I reached the top of the feather I went down the side to create a border, wrapping the string around every second and third nail head until I reached the top of the feather from the other side. From there I went down the centre vein until I got to my starting point at the bottom most nail. I cut the string giving me enough give to tie a knot to finish up and knotted the string around the same nail I started on. I cut the excess and then used a bead of crazy glue to keep the knot from coming undone or fraying. The back of the board had to be sanded down flush as some of the nails had poked through the board.

I love the way the white string contrasts against the burnt wood grain, it turned out better than expected and is a great addition to the wall at our back entryway! Have you tried any “Pin”spiring DIY’s lately?