Sunday, July 12, 2015

Art Display

We love art!  We frequently paint, write, draw, color, and adhere stickers during play time.

Very quickly I've run out of places to display projects, at least in a manner that I could enjoy. (Long term selection and storage is an entirely different story!)  Our refrigerator is not magnetic, so our playroom cabinets and art easel have housed most of our favorite pieces.



I like the clips better than the cabinets, which required tape and often the very difficult task of tape removal.  I've been playing around with several ideas for art display: a large cork board (don't love the idea of that many tacks floating around our play room), a large magnetic board (the size I wanted would likely be too heavy to be easy to safely hang), frames (beautiful, too hard to change and a bit too formal for what I wanted, not to mention dealing with the irregular sizes of preschool art).

Finally, at a girlfriends house, I found the perfect idea.  She had purchased a display for Christmas Cards and eventually re-purposed it for art.  I decided I could make one for myself that fit my space perfectly!


It seemed like it would be super easy, and for the most part it was!  Best of all, the supplies cost almost nothing.


SUPPLIES
Two 3/4" x 3' wooden sticks

Step 1: Measure for holes.  I decided to put my strings at 5", I left 3" on each side for mounting. 

Step 2: Drill Holes.  The only tricky part here was making the holes the right size.  I didn't want them too big, but I did need to be able to shove the twine through.  I tried several different bits and settled on 9/64".  I also drilled a hole in the opposite direction on both end for mounting.  After drilling, I sanded the holes and the entire rods to make them a little smoother and take off any rough edges.


Step 3: Paint or Stain Wood: I tried several different stains, but I wasn't happy with the results.  In the end, I slapped a quick coat of white paint on.  I was hoping for a slightly more rustic look, but the paint came out fine.

Step 4: Thread the Twine: I really wanted this to be a one day project, but I had to wait for my paint to dry, so the next day I threaded the twine.  Even with the bigger holes, it was still a little tricky.  I ended up using a small drill bit to help push it through.





I tied small bows and knotted them on one side and then fed the twine through the other side.   Because I wasn't sure how big I wanted it, I left the other side untied.


Step 5: Hanging: I originally wanted to use a french cleat to hang them, but in the end decided to just nail them.  I taped them up first so I could decide how far apart to place the poles.





I didn't tie the other side until after I had attached the poles.  I knotted them, but left a little slack in case I decide to tighten the twine.


Then it was time to display our art!





If you don't want to get as much sag, I think you could tie them before hanging, although you'd have to be very careful to mark your strings or you could hang them closer together.

Overall, I'm very happy with the project and I think it will be a great place to hang our arts, cards, and pictures!


 

3 comments:

  1. I like it! Perhaps I'll find a spot in our house where we could add one of these!

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    Replies
    1. I bet your girls would love it! Although you already have some lovely places for them to display the creativity. How are their room canvases coming along?

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  2. What a lovely way to display the art work! Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday

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