Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Cookie Monster State

By a show of hands, how many of you live in an awesome state (or depending on country...an awesome region, providence, county, etc.)? Wow...that's a lot of hands. Okay, hands down. Now, by a show of hands, how many of you live in the best state? Wow! You all must be from New Mexico...because it is most definitely the best state and you all have your hands up. It seems for the most part (there are always exceptions, I know) people really have "hometown pride" for not only their hometown, but often their county and state. Is there a term akin to patriotism for a state? I am thoroughly convinced NM is the best, but others would heartily disagree and offer up their state as "evidence". This state patriotism has been evidenced on Pinterest through a few projects, but this is the most popular one I've seen:

The Original Pin
http://theharpsterhome.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/heart-in-ohio/    <--That's a great tutorial.  
The string art state. Looks easy enough, and I think it is to a degree...but there's always someway to make things a little off kilter with any project. 

Enter Amy. She decided to try this project out and ended up sending it to us. She got the exact latitude and longitude coordinates for her house so that she could place the heart in that spot and then got to work. She printed the map, bought the board, pounded in the nails and pulled some yarn out of her stash. Where did things get a little weird? Her yarn choice .She says, "I wanted a more filled-in look so a used a super-fuzzy yarn." She pulled out the only mohair yarn she had...which happened to be Cookie Monster Blue. 

The Pinstrosity
http://fluidmotion.blogspot.com/2012/09/crafts-vermonster.html
 "Looks like I used Cookie Monster fur, right? The nice thing is that it is nice and touchable. When you see it, you kind of want to rub your hand on it, like you're petting an animal or something. Which is okay by me."

"But the color is kind of a problem. The first thing you notice is that it's blue. And you wonder, 'Why isn't it green? Vermont is the Green Mountain State. ... Srsly, why is it blue?' This was my thought as I was making it. This was Dollar's first comment when I showed it to him. Someday, when I acquire green mohair yarn, I'll cut this blue stuff out and re-string it with green."

"Also, my nails aren't thin/small enough. The state border is okay, but there really should be more nails making up the heart."


http://fluidmotion.blogspot.com/2012/09/crafts-vermonster.html
"The heart nails got filled quickly (especially since I was using a bulkier yarn) as I was stringing them."

"The wooden board I bought at Joann's. It was unfinished, so I stained it a Maple color. I bought the nails at Home Depot. I already had the mohair yarn. That's really it for supplies. The board is a bit plain, so I'd like to wood burn some design or words into the lower right-side of the wood."

"I like it, though. The mohair yarn makes it extra-weird. And weird things are always welcome in my house."

So really this one isn't too bad...just a little weird, as Amy says. And Cookie Monster-ish. By experimenting with different types of yarn/floss/string you could get a variety of different looks. The biggest issue I've seen with this project from various sites is the type of nail/brad you use. Make sure it has a decent head on it or the thread will just slip off the nail...and that would make this project really frustrating.  

This project is one that is easy to customize to fit your own likes. I've seen various threads used, variations on colors, and variations on the inside shape (rather than a heart). In fact, I'll show you a picture that we were sent when we hosted our Pinstrosity Challenge. Maureen decided to highlight her Alma Mater (Clemson University) with the colors she chose and the shape she put in the middle (a tiger paw). 


Cool, huh?! I love it. Fits right in what what I was talking about on Tuesday...take a pin and make it your own. Same base idea but with a few personalizing tweaks.


14 comments:

  1. I really like the idea of "take a pin and make it your own." There are some really cool pins out there but some where I think "it would be even better if...." I guess I should try them and make them my own.

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  2. Doh! I never even thought of doing a different shape on the inside. In hindsight, a maple leaf outline would have been cool. Plus, it would have used more nails than my simple heart. Oh well, I still love my Cookie Monster State :)

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  3. love the paw one! I just attempted this porject a few days ago too!
    http://pinthere-donethat.com/2012/09/07/state-string-art/

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  4. I don't think my state is the best (Kansas) but it'll be easy to do this project with! Second only to Colorado, probably.

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  5. The original pin is MY FRIEND's BLOG. I feel like I know someone famous!!

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  6. Breenah beat me to it! I don't know that any of us who live in Kansas think it's the best. Mostly, it's tolerable.

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  7. I just wanted to point out that Vermont sort of looks like an upside-down Idaho... I thought when I first saw the picture that that's why it was a Pinstrosity :) I think the blue looks AWESOME, though.

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  8. I'd do one of just No. California. It would be a funky-looking little square, but, in terms of where I'm from, very accurate!

    Thanks for the fun post!

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  9. "Virginia is for Lovers", so would be perfect with a heart. For Kansas, you could use a tornado shape. ;)

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  10. So, I'm Canadian, and I think this would be totally fun with a province or terrirory! You could use a maple leaf, or a heart, or a paw print... it depends on the size of your project. But I would totally do Vancouver, PEI, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton.. they have pretty unique shapes :)

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  11. I had never seen this pin... what a cute idea! I almost like the blue cookie monster pintrosity better. I love how it's filled in. (Ironically my daughter is watching cookie monster on t.v. this very moment!)

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  12. I love pinstrosity and now I'm even more excited to see my alma mater highlighted on here. Love it!

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  13. We're a military family and I think I'm going to create one for each state we've been stationed in. Place the shape on the inside over each duty station location :) As the years go on, we can keep adding more! "Home is where the Navy sends us"

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