Mandala String Art on the Wall

I've been redecorating my bedroom in a Boho style. I have mandalas stenciled on the walls, and wanted a large, string mandala over the headboard. It turned out great.

I added the light string later because I needed more light over the bed. I think I liked the mandala without the light string better, but the added light is convenient.

I kind of made it up as I went, but believe I've included all the necessary information to get you going. Enjoy.

It really is not as hard as it looks.

*Twine/yarn/string in color(s) of your choice (I used four colors: white and three shades of blue.) I can only give you an estimate of how much you'll need because I imagine yours won't be the same size. My mandala is 8-1/2' wide (each point is 45" long). I used about 300 feet of each color.

*Protractor

*Pencil

*measuring tape or yardstick**

*1-1/2" nails - about 100

*Hammer

*Patience

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**I used a cloth measuring tape used for sewing because it was more flexible. I also didn't draw the lines in Step 1, I just measured and made the mark. I did have to come back with a yardstick to mark the nail spots (I did mention that I was making it up as I went--right?).

Notes:

~Use a very stroke making your marks and lines. They will have to be removed later.

~All the lines in this step are the same length, which is up to you--whatever fits your space.

~I apologize for the unprofessional messiness of my mandala drawing in the following steps. I'm learning...

NOW:

Decide where you want your string art. Measure the space. Make an "X" at the bottom center of your space (Figure A).

Measure and draw a line horizontally from the center X to the left (Figure A, line 1). Measure and draw a line horizontally from the center X to the right (Figure A, line 9).

Measure and draw a line straight up from the X (Figure B, line 5).

Here is where you will need a protractor to get the angles correct. Align your protractor so that the horizontal line from 0 degrees to 180 degrees is on lines 1 and 9 (Figure C).

Measure and draw a line at 22.5 degrees, one at 45 degrees, one at 67.5 degrees, one at 112.5 degrees, one at 135 degrees. and one at 157.5 degrees (Figure D).

You should now have nine lines drawn (Figure E)

Measure 3 or so inches from the bottom center X on lines 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, and make an X. This will form a small semi-circle at the bottom center of the mandala (Figure F).

Divide the length of one of your mandala's points by 19. There are 20 nails on each point (19 spaces), so the nails should be equal-distance apart.

For instance: my mandala's points are 45" long from the semi-circle X to the end. So....45" divided by 19 = 2-7/19" or 2.37" between each nail.

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Begin at the X in the semi-circle point on line 1. Make 18 evenly-spaced marks on line 1. You should have 20 marks (remember, there were already two marks on line 1). Repeat this process for lines 3, 5, 7 and 9 (figure G).

Now make a mark at the end of lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 (figure G).

Pound a nail about half-way into each mark, keeping them straight.

Now is the time to remove any marks on the wall. There should only be nails.

The bottom layer is first. It's the white layer on my mandala.

Refer to the numbered nails in Figure H in Step 2. Tie the end of your string to nail #93 on line 1.

Run the string from left to right around nail #84, make sure that you run the string around the nails in the same direction every time, and keep your string taut.

Follow this sequence:

From nail #93: 84, 94, 84, 95, 84, 96, 84, 97, 84, 98, 84, 99, 84, 100, 84, 101, 84, 102, 84, 103, 84, 104, 84, 83, 84, 82, 84, 81, 84, 80, 84, 79, 84, 78, 84, 77, 84, 76, 84, 75, 84, 74, 84, 73, 84, 72

You should now have something that looks like Figure I.

Continue on:

From nail #72: 63, 73, 63, 74, 63, 75, 63, 76, 63, 77, 63, 78, 63, 79, 63, 80, 63, 81, 63, 82, 63, 83, 63, 62, 63, 61, 63, 60, 63, 59, 63, 58, 63, 57, 63, 56, 63, 55, 63, 54, 63, 53, 63, 52, 63, 51

You should now have something that looks like Figure J.

Continue on:

From nail #51: 42, 52, 42, 53, 42, 54, 42, 55, 42, 56, 42, 57, 42, 58, 42, 59, 42, 60, 42, 61, 42, 62, 42 , 41, 42, 40, 42, 39, 42, 38, 42, 37, 42, 36, 42, 35, 42, 34, 42, 33, 42, 32, 42, 31, 42, 30

You should now have something that looks like Figure K.

Continue on:

From nail #30: 21, 31, 21, 32, 21, 33, 21, 34, 21, 35, 21, 36, 21, 37, 21, 38, 21, 39, 21, 40, 21, 41, 21, 1, 21, 2, 21, 3, 21, 4, 21, 5, 21, 6, 21, 7, 21, 8, 21, 9, 21, 10, 21, 11, 21, 12.

Tie your string to nail #12 and cut off the excess.

You should now have something that looks like Figure L.

On my mandala, layer 2 is the lightest blue. Referring again to the numbered nails in Figure H in Step 2:

Tie the end of your next color string to nail #85.

Follow this sequence:

From nail #85: 83, 86, 82, 87, 81, 88, 80, 89, 79, 90, 78, 91, 77, 92, 76, 93, 75, 94, 74, 95, 73, 96, 72, 97, 71, 98, 70, 99, 69, 100, 68, 101, 67, 102, 66, 103, 65, 104, 64

You should have something that looks like Figure M

Continue on:

From nail #64: 62, 65, 61, 66, 60, 67, 59, 68, 58, 69, 57, 70, 56, 71, 55, 72, 54, 73, 53, 74, 52, 75, 51, 76, 50, 77, 49, 78, 48, 79, 47, 80, 46, 81, 45, 82, 44, 83, 43

You should have something that looks better than Figure N (I messed that one up a bit and, unfortunately, it's only gonna get worse.)

Continue on:

From nail #43: 41, 44, 40, 45, 39, 46, 38. 47, 37, 48, 36, 49, 35, 50, 34, 51, 33, 52, 32, 53, 31, 54, 30, 55, 29, 56, 28, 57, 27, 58, 26, 59, 25, 60, 24, 61, 23, 62, 22

You should have something that looks like Figure O

Continue on:

From nail #22: 1, 23, 2, 24, 3, 25, 4, 26, 5, 27, 6, 28, 7, 29, 8, 30, 9, 31, 10, 32, 11, 33, 12, 34, 13, 35, 14, 36, 15, 37, 16, 38, 17, 39, 18, 40, 19, 41, 20

Tie your string to nail #20 and cut off the excess.

You should have something that looks like Figure P

On my mandala, layer 3 is the middle shade of blue. Referring again to the numbered nails in Figure H in Step 2:

Tie the end of your next color string to nail #87.

Follow this sequence:

From nail #87: 83, 88, 82, 89, 81, 90, 80, 91, 79, 92, 78, 93, 77, 94, 76, 95, 75, 96, 74, 97, 73, 98, 72, 99, 71, 100, 70, 101, 69, 102, 68, 103, 67, 104, 66

You should have something that looks like Figure Q

Continue on:

From nail #66: 62, 67, 61, 68, 60, 69, 59, 70, 58, 71, 57, 72, 56, 73, 55, 74, 54, 75, 53, 76, 52, 77, 51, 78, 50, 79, 49, 80, 48, 81, 47, 82, 46, 83, 45

You should have something that looks like Figure R

Continue on:

From nail #45: 41, 46, 40, 47, 39, 48, 38, 49, 37, 50, 36, 51, 35, 52, 34, 53, 33, 54, 32, 55, 31, 56, 30, 57, 29, 58, 28, 59, 27, 60, 26, 61, 25, 62, 24

You should have something that looks like Figure S

Continue on:

From nail #24: 1, 25, 2, 26, 3, 27, 4, 28, 5, 29, 6, 30, 7, 31, 8, 32, 9, 33, 10, 34, 11, 35, 12, 36, 13, 37, 14, 38, 15, 39, 16, 40, 17, 41, 18

Tie your string to nail #18 and cut off the excess.

You should have something that looks like Figure T

On my mandala, layer 4 is the darkest shade of blue, but I'm going to do it in red so that it stands out.

Referring again to the numbered nails in Figure H in Step 2:

Tie the end of your next color string to nail #89.

Follow this sequence:

From nail #89: 83, 90, 82, 91, 81, 92, 80, 93, 79, 94, 78, 95, 77, 96, 76, 97, 75, 98, 74, 99, 73, 100, 72, 101, 71, 102, 70, 103, 69, 104, 68

You should have something that looks like Figure U

Continue on:

From nail #68: 62, 69, 61, 70, 60, 71, 59, 72, 58, 73, 57, 74, 56, 75, 55, 76, 54, 77, 53, 78, 52, 79, 51, 80, 50, 81, 49, 82, 48, 83, 47

You should have something that looks like Figure V

Continue on:

From nail #47: 41, 48, 40, 49, 39, 50, 38, 51, 37, 52, 36, 53, 35, 54, 34, 55, 33, 56, 32, 57, 31, 58, 30, 59, 29, 60, 28, 61, 27, 62, 26

You should have something that looks like Figure W

Continue on:

From nail #26: 1, 27, 2, 28, 3, 29, 4, 30, 5, 31, 6, 32, 7, 33, 8, 34, 9, 35, 10, 36, 11, 37, 12, 38, 13, 39, 14, 40, 15, 41, 16

Tie your string to nail #16 and cut off the excess.

You should have something that looks like Figure X

Pat yourself on the back. You're finished.