Sea Tow Foundation’s DIY Craft Time: Nautical String Art

Even though our busiest boating season has drawn to a close, boating does not have to end entirely. Now you can bring your on-the-water lifestyle inside your home with the next Sea Tow Foundation boating craft. Bring the entire family to participate in this fun craft.

The Sea Tow Foundation has created a monthly nautical craft to help bring those boating memories home. These crafts are easy for anyone to make and require limited tools and materials. In fact, all of the tools and materials are available at online retailers, or at a local craft store if you don’t already have the items lying around your house. Younger children may need the help of an adult for some portions of the craft project, but they can help with most of the personalization of the crafts. And many of these crafts make great homemade gifts!

In this month’s craft project, find a fun way to bring your boat inside your home!

Materials to Make a Nautical Picture Frame:

• A wooden board (already sanded and stained)
• Various colors of embroidery floss
• Hammer
• Nails (not as long as the board is tall)
• Paper
• Tape
• Pencil
• Marker
• Scissors

Directions for How to Make the Nautical String Art:

1. Find or purchase a wooden board and measure it to determine the size. You will want your design to be slightly smaller than the board to allow for space around the edges.

    

2. Draw a simple boat or other design on your piece of paper and make sure it is slightly smaller than the size of the wooden board. After drawing the photo, mark dots every 4-5 millimeters to note where you’ll place the nails. If you are not a good drawer, you can also search for a drawing online that you like and print that out to use.

    

3. Tape the paper to your wooden board. You don’t need to tape all of the sides, just a few pieces will work to keep it from moving when you first start to insert the nails.

    

4. Hammer in the nails on each of the black dots. Start in one area and work your way around the board to fill in all of the spots. Make sure the nails are all the same height off of the board.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Once all of the nails are in, remove the paper and tape from the board.
   
   

    
   
   

6. Take one of the pieces of embroidery floss and tie a simple knot around one of the nails. Then create a frame by going back and forth around each of the nails. You can work in whatever pattern you would like and even change the color of the embroidery floss for different parts of the picture. At the end, tie another knot around the last nail and cut off any excess string.
   
   
   
   

Congratulations on making Nautical String Art! Share your creations with us on Facebook and Instagram by tagging @SeaTowFoundation and using the #DIYNauticalCraftTime

If you found this article helpful or entertaining, please consider a donation to the Sea Tow Foundation today to help us continue our efforts to educate boaters and keep them safe on the water. You can donate securely online at www.boatingsafety.com/donatetoday or by clicking on the DONATE tab at the top of the page.