A Little Piece of Texas

My boss gave me a leftover gift basket from the Holidays. This was a "Texas" themed gift basket and therefore it had a Texas shaped body. At first thought, I was thinking I could use it for it's original purpose--as a basket, but then I realized that there's so many other things I could do with it. 

So, I decided to do the "nail-string wrap" that floats around Pinterest since the wood was already in the shape of Texas! 

First Step: Unravel the basket weave. 

Second: after you have you're cut out, paint it whatever color you desire!

The start hammering nails close together. For this I chose #10 carpet nails because they are dark and every nail is just a bit different than the one before! 

Once you're finished with the border, choose the placement (and symbol) of the center holster. 

Tack the symbol in place and then start hammering around the border.  

Once you've completed your center symbol, start to wrap your string. I chose to go with two different types of string: multicolored yarn and I went back over it with a traditional white string (the type that you would use to make a friendship bracelet).

String one is complete! 

String two: I decided to do string one straight and uniform and then string two I decided to go a bit crazy since it was the top layer!

And here's the final result! There's still a few nails I would like to adjust, and I need to fasten hangers on the back, but for now it's messy and unique like me and I'm happy with the turnout!