Day 4 – Yarn Tapestry Installment (Land of Nod Hack)

I hope everyone had a fab weekend! I am kind of in love with this DIY, and I hope you will be too.

I found my inspiration for this piece in my Instagram feed, (where else). The Land of Nod posted a photo of this yarn installation, created by their Interior Design Manager, Sara. It was based off of a tutorial by Jeran of @oleanderandpalm. I probably should have watched the tutorial, but I didn’t realize there was one. Ha (true story). I took a screen-shot of the post 2 weeks ago, and just knew I had to give it a go for my 12 Days of DIY challenge. And boy am I glad I did!

The photo that started it all

Here is my step-by-step guide of how I recreated this yarn tapestry installment:

Supplies:

Yarn
wooden dowel
gold leaf paint
small, soft bristle paint brush

** I got my yarn, dowels and gold leaf paint from Hobby Lobby

1. Pick your colors

I drew inspiration from the Land of Nod post. I have been wanting to introduce brighter colors in to my living room. I knew I wanted my blue to be in the aqua/turquoise family. I love the brightness and richness of fuchsia/magenta, and I’ve also been looking for ways to add this color to this room. I chose the mustard color, because I love how it looks against both of these colors, and voila! I had my color pallet selected.

2. Measure your sections

Depending on the design you choose, measure out the sections in to equal parts (for each color). Factor in the ends.

3. Start tying and cutting

Starting with the aqua yarn, tie each strand to the dowel, directly from the spool of yarn. Cut each piece as you go, leaving extra room for shaping at the end. Make sure to tie the pieces as close together as possible, and in tight, double-knots.

4. Cut the fray

Pull all of the loose tied ends to the back of the tapestry, so they are all lined up in a row. Then snip them down. Make sure to use good scissors, (I used or kitchen scissors that came with or Henckel knives).

5. Cut to shape

Originally I thought I would make my husband hold the tapestry whilst I cut the edges to shape, (he is 6’3″). Instead though, I used a small curtain rod holder that we have by our front door as my holder, (a much better idea). Then I started cutting.

6. Paint dowel

I decided I wanted gold-dipped ends on my tapestry, because let’s be honest, gold-dipped anything is pretty fabulous. Enter gold leaf paint, my newest obsession in life.

$4.99 at Hobby Lobby

I then painted each end with the gold leaf paint.

7. Tie and hang

I used twine to hang my tapestry, but you could use clear fishing line, or even a piece of yarn. Tie at each end, and hang from a nail or hook in the wall.