little bit o' nature stick hanger {a handy tutorial...and it's kid-friendly, too!}

i recently bought two vintage colorful bird stitcheries that didn't have frames--

that's the way i prefer them, actually--frame-less.

(bought them from a "shop" on Instagram--IG shopping is dangerously addicting, folks!) 

anywhoo, i'm always looking for creative ways to hang things like this.  

i've used old clipboards, aging wooden clamp hangers, the timeless embroidery hoops...

tonight, we were doing a little re-decorating in my oldest daughter's room, 

and i decided that these were perfect for a fun, new hanger idea i had.

this silly little project is so simple that i almost discounted the idea of posting a tutorial for it...

until a friend suggested that it would also be a perfect make-with-your-kids craft.

hey, if your kiddos are old enough it could even be a put-them-to-work-making-it-while-you-read-a-book craft!☺

materials needed:

--item you want to hang

--stick approximately 2" longer than the width of said item

--yarn...or string, or jute, or thread...you get to choose

--yarn needle

--scissors...obviously

cut two lengths of yarn, approximately 12" long each.

thread your yarn needle.  if you chose yarn or string or thread, this step should be fairly easy.  

if you chose jute...well, knuckle down and figure it out!  

i've found the easiest way to thread a yarn needle is to fold the yarn over and pinch it very tightly right by the fold.  while holding the tight pinch, push it gently through the large eye of the yarn needle. carefully pull the loop through until the shorter end of yarn has pulled through and your needle is threaded.

voilà! great job!

near each corner, carefully push your needle through the material.  

if your art piece is very wide, you may want to do an additional tie or two in the middle.

once your needle is through, pull several inches of thread through to the backside, 

being sure to leave an equal-ish length on the front.

repeat process near the second corner...and again in the middle, if you so choose.

lay your stick between the "bottom layer" and "top layer" of yarn, positioning it so that it is centered, more or less.

loosely tie your art piece to your stick.

this particular piece is going in my daughter's room, so i chose to tie little bows...

if you were using this method for a piece for a boy's room, you might even choose to do frayed knots.

cut another length of yarn, 18" long.

thread your yarn needle again.  

turn your art piece over (stick and all).  run the threaded needle through both loops made by your ties.

gather the two ends of yarn and knot at whatever length you would like your hanger to be.

we chose to knot the yarn and then rotate the knot so that it's close to one of the bows, barely visible. 

(see it up there? off to the left?)

you may want to tie yours in a bow and leave it top and center...

or off to the side a bit...or in a knot...really, the choice is entirely yours!

hang and enjoy!

i think this concept would be especially neat in a western-themed boy's room...maybe with an old cattle poster? or a torn-up "wanted" sign?  you could certainly use the same method with paper goods...just use a paper punch for the holes in the corners and use care when stringing your jute through...because jute would just be so perfect, too.

i'd love to see if you make any projects like this...
share them with me, will ya?
you can always email me photos (contact info on my contact me page)...or my very favorite way of sharing, just tag me on Instagram...i'm @tweetpotatopie on there, too!

speaking of email...
i'm just way too new to way too much of this bloggy stuff.
i had a little giveaway that ended yesterday and, unfortunately, i didn't require email addresses with the giveaway entries.
so if you're the "jessica" that was the 11th comment-er on my last post, would you kindly email me so that i can get your goodies to you?
thanks, dear!