kurt hearts ohio

And since I heart Kurt, I thought I would whip him up an Ohio themed Valentine's Day gift. I saw this project a while ago on Etsy, but it wasn't until I saw this post from a fellow Auburn alum that I got inspired to try it myself.

I live a few doors down from a custom door and cabinet shop (and a car mechanic in the other direction...needless to say, it's an eclectic neighborhood) and they occasionally put out old project scraps for the taking. I'm always on the lookout for sidewalk trash treasure, so I was thrilled to scoop up a couple wood panels a few months ago for future projects.

This one finally had a use, so I sanded off the glossy finish and painted it with white paint I had lying around.

I printed off a map of Ohio and taped it to my panel.

Then I went to town nailing! I would recommend thin wire nails with broad heads. They hold the string best without overpowering the board. However, make sure you don't get such teeny tiny nails that you can't hold them while nailing. There is a delicate balance :)

I nailed around the state outline (just eyeball the spacing) and put a heart around Columbus, location of Kurt's beloved Ohio State. After I had all the nails in place, I carefully tore out my paper guide and fixed any loose nails.

Then I started looping the string from the center outward. (I'm a math nerd and would recommend doing some calculations to determine how many perimeter nails correspond to the center ones so you get an even array.) You can't really see, but I paired a scarlet and gray thread to continue with the Ohio theme. If I had to do it again, I might have gone with a thicker string (maybe cross stitch floss?) for a bolder effect but I had no idea how much yardage I would need, so, this time, I just used a typical cotton sewing thread.

Ta da! I already have the perfect place picked out for this baby to sit in Kurt's apartment :)

In addition to this string art, I also gifted Kurt the t-shirt version of this poster. I know I shouldn't encourage his out of control t-shirt habit, but in my defense A) it was on sale B) it's not Ohio State and C) it's really cool and the company is in Brooklyn! I almost got myself one :)

Did you guys get/give anything good for Valentine's Day?