how to make a wire wall art sign

The older I get, the more I lean toward minimalist design. I love the feeling of simplifying, paring down, and being intentional about what I surround myself with. One of my favorite minimalist trends is wire wall art. I love the clean aesthetic, the organic feel, and the opportunity to customize a word, phrase, or quote you love.

Recently I shared my love for wire signs on a local lifestyle TV show, Studio 5, and I'm excited to share with you three different ways to create your own custom wire word art with minimal effort and cost.

I'm sure there are plenty of ways to make your own wire sign, but I'm going to focus on three ways, plus I'll share some tips about types of wire to use, tools and supplies needed, and how to display your wire wall art.

The first way to make wire word art, and my personal favorite, is with the We R Memory Keepers Big Happy Jig. What I love about this tool is it comes with everything you need to get started: the jig, wire, wire cutters, different size pegs, and a booklet with instructions and templates. There are even dozens more free templates on the @werhappyjig Instagram account. Check out THIS BLOG POST for a tutorial and project inspiration. You can also find several fun colors of wire HERE.

Another easy way to make wire wall art is to use a printed paper template. Choose your favorite script, calligraphy or hand lettering font and type your custom word or phrase. You can print it large scale on two sheets of paper at home, or print it on larger paper at a copy or print shop. Then use your hands to bend the wire to fit the shape of your template.

I used bailing wire for this sign and I recommend using rubber cleaning gloves to keep your hands from turning black. What I like about the bailing wire is that is has a real rustic look to it, so it's perfect if you're going for farmhouse style.

The third way to make wire wall art is to make your own wire jig! I made mine with a 1’x 2’ piece of pegboard. I found a wood dowel that was just slightly wider than the peg holes, then I cut it into 2 inch pieces and sanded them down, especially on the ends that goes into the board, so they’d fit tightly. This is a great option if you plan to make several of these for you, for your small business, or for gifts.

Now that you've got three different options for making wire wall art, let's talk about types of wire to use. Wire is categorized by width, or gauge. The higher the gauge, the thinner the wire. Wire can also be annealed, which means it's treated with heat and cooled at a certain rate so that it's more pliable than traditional wire. My favorite type of wire is annealed medium gauge wire (12-14) because it's not too hard to work with, but it still keeps its shape.

Here are some types of wire you can use:

1. We R Memory Keepers 10-12 gauge wire (my personal favorite). It's easy to bend, doesn't crack or break, and holds its shape nicely. Plus it comes in all different kinds of colors!
2. Bailing wire, 16 gauge, is cheap, easy to find, and fairly easy to work with. It has a black distressed look which is perfect for farmhouse style, but it also gets your hands dirty, so be sure to wear rubber cleaning gloves.
3. Galvenized steel wire, 10 gauge, is clean, silver, and holds its shape really nicely. It's a littler harder to work with so be sure to use a good pair of pliers.

Here are some tools that will come in handy when making your own wire wall art:

1. Pliers
2. Wire cutters
3. Rubber cleaning gloves
4. Peg board
5. Wood dowels
6. Sandpaper
7. Mallet (to drive in pegs)

Here are some ways to display your wire wall art:

      1. Inside a metal hoop wreath

      2. On a wood slice or wood plaque

     
      3. Suspended on fishline

      4. Directly attached to the wall (leave extra wire at the beginning and end of the design, then drill            small holes in the wall for inserting the wire)

Now that you've got a handle on the basics, it's time to make your own wire wall art sign! Choose a meaningful word, phrase, or quote and get started. Happy crafting!

Shop supplies for this post:

We R Memory Keepers - Big Happy Jig
Scrapbook.com

We R Memory Keepers - Big Happy Jig - Color Wire - Multi Color - 4 Pack
Scrapbook.com

lucky cupcake toppers for st. patrick's day

St. Patrick’s Day is coming next month, and at our house it’s a fun day where we celebrate mostly with food! We die our milk green, cook green eggs and ham, and always have a yummy green dessert. This year, I’m thinking it’s going to be cupcakes. Who doesn't love cupcakes, am I right?

pocket valentines with the foil quill

Each year for Valentine’s Day my youngest daughter and I have fun coming up with DIY class valentines for her to share at school. She's really into bubble gum right now and wanted to include that in her class valentines, so this year we decided to go for pocket valentines to hold a pack of bubble gum for each of her classmates.

easy non-candy class valentine idea: punch balloons!

I'll be honest and say that over half of my daughter's candy from Valentine's Day gets thrown in the trash eventually. She gets so many treats that she doesn't even want to eat them all! Don't get me wrong, I love a good piece of candy now and then, but the amount of sweets passed around on this holiday is nothing short of a dentist's dream. Last year we decided to pass out non-candy class valentines that would hopefully last longer than candy and would definitely be more healthy. We made Punch Balloon Class Valentines with custom stamped gift tags!

valentine's day gift idea: make a mini envelope photo album!

Let's talk Valentine's Day gifts. It's always hard to find just the right one for that special someone in your life. I find that going handmade is always a good option because it represents a gift of your time, resources and talent which has a little more impact than a store bought gift. I’m excited to share a fun handmade Valentine’s Day gift idea--check out the envelope photo album I made below for my sweetheart for Valentine’s Day!

valentine's day cupcake toppers with the mini envelope punch board

Hello friends! Can you believe that Valentine's Day is next week?! This year it kind of snuck up on me, but no worries! I've got plans. Oh yes, I'm here to share a fun and interactive Valentine’s Day party decor idea. Why not take your February 14th celebration up a notch and make Love Note Cupcake Toppers!

valentine's day hoop wreath with the big happy jig

Hi there friends. Now that we've put all the Christmas stuff away at our house, it's time to start decorating for Valentine's Day! I really wanted a wreath for my front door, so I decided to make a hoop wreath that could last from now through the early spring. I’ve wanted to make a hoop wreath for a while now with wire handlettering inside and I'll show you how to do it!

make gold foil thank you tags with the foil quill freestyle pens

A girl can never have enough thank you notes, am I right? And if those thank you's are made with gold foil, even better! The Foil Quill Freestyle Pens are the easiest way to add custom foil designs to you projects, and it's a favorite of mine right now. With just a ruler, a cardstock tag, and the Freestyle Pens you can make the perfect thank you tags for a wedding, anniversary, or shower in no time.

craft room storage solutions

Hello friends! Like many of you, now that the holidays are over I've been working on getting my craft room cleaned up and organized. I'm trying to make sure I store things in the most efficient way so that I'll actually get them out and use them. Today I’ve got some tips for storing and organizing your craft supplies. For a while I’ve had a few problem spots in my craft room. I’ve known they need reorganization, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it and I didn’t want to take a lot of time.

how to make a foiled handmade card with the freestyle pens

If you're a crafter you've likely heard about the We R Memory Keepers Foil Quill line. There are heat pens that work with your electronic cutting machine (Foil Quill pens), and then there's a set that you can use by hand (Foil Quill Freestyle Pens). The Freestyle Pens are perfect for larger objects that won't fit in your cutting machine, for on the go crafting, and for crafters who don't have an electronic cutting machine. They're great for calligraphers and handletterers, but no worries if you aren't great at drawing, calligraphy or handlettering! There are SO many ways to use these pens that don’t require mad lettering or drawing skills. Here’s an easy and very cool way: create a modern gold foil brush stroke background for your handmade cards!

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

make a coptic bound planner [free printable]

Hello, and Happy New Year friends! I always look forward to the opportunity to set some goals at the new year. Getting organized, planning and setting goals work a lot better for me if I have things written down so I can keep myself accountable and on task. Each year I make a printable calendar to help me do that, so today I’m sharing a FREE PRINTABLE planner that you can use for any year. I made mine for last year, but since you write in your own dates you can use this for 2020, or any other year, too. I used a coptic binding for my planner and I'll show you how to do that.

personalize your 2020 planner with the foil quill freestyle pens

Are you ready to rock the new year? Have you got your planner set up for success in 2020? I'm getting my 2020 planners ready to go and I've got a really easy and cool way to personalize your planner cover. I'm a huge fan of foil--especially gold or rose gold foil--so I wanted to add a custom gold touch to my 2020 planner cover. It was easy and I'll show you how!

how to organize the we r memory keepers quill kits

Let's face it. As crafters we love to accumulate craft supplies, but storing and organizing them can sometimes feel overwhelming! Keeping my craft room well organized, neat, and tidy is a constant process that I need to carve out time for regularly or my creativity suffers. When I find helpful craft room storage and organization ideas I love to share them in hopes that other crafters might benefit from what I've learned. So, here is a cool craft storage tip that I recently discovered...

make a 2020 planner with the we r memory keepers etch quill

Now that Christmas is over, I’m excited to start the new year and set some goals. I always do better on my goals when I have some accountability, and writing goals down is a great way to be accountable. To help keep track of my goals, tasks, and ideas I created a 2020 Planner with some of my favorite We R tools.

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

how to make new year's eve gift bags with the glue quill

Hey friends! How was your Christmas? I hope you had a wonderful day. We sure did at our house. This time of year can be busy, but it's also so special and I love it. Now that I'm not totally focused on Christmas, I just had to share a fun party favor idea for New Year’s Eve using one of my favorite new tools, the Glue Quill along with my Silhouette Cameo 3.

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

how to make a christmas countdown wreath with the works all in one tool

The holidays are almost here, and so are all of the fun traditions that go along with them. One of our favorite family holiday traditions is a Christmas countdown or advent calendar. It helps us to focus on the things that matter most to us during this special time of year, and brings us closer together as a family.

This year I created a Christmas Countdown Wreath to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. I'm super excited about it because it's going to be so much fun to do with my family, and I was able to create it with just ONE tool! Check out the photos and video tutorial below and I'll show you how. There's still time to make one for yourself!

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I do receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

november gratitude journal spread

For years I've kept a personal gratitude journal of one kind or another. It happens often during the month of November when my mind is focused on being thankful. I've also done it during really hard times that our family has gone through, and whenever I do it, it completely changes my perspective and my focus in a wonderful way.

Recently I put together a gratitude journal spread for the month of November where I'm recording some things I'm grateful for. Life's been pretty good, but pretty busy lately so it's helping me slow down and live more intentionally while recognizing the good in my life. Click below to see how I made this sweet gratitude journal page.

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I do receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

how to make a thanksgiving tablescape with the foil quill freestyle pens

Happy November crafters! It is time to get my Thanksgiving on! This year it's all about foiling and rich colors for fall, and I've got some easy ideas for making a beautiful Thanksgiving tablescape with the Freestyle Pens and another new release from We R Memory Keepers, the Revolution die cutting and embossing tool. Click below to learn how to cut and foil some paper fall leaves, and how to use them in your Thanksgiving decor!

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. I do receive a small commision if you do to help support my blog. All ideas and opinions are my own.

foil quill freestyle pens: review and project ideas

Hello crafty friends! It's been a hot minute since I've shared something with you here on the ol' blog, but I'm REALLY excited to share this AMAZING new tool with you! The new Foil Quill Freestyle Pens are the hottest ticket in the craft industry, and I'm going to show you how to use them to create DIY foil projects.

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links to help support my blog. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. All ideas and opinions are my own.

april planner spread

Most of my memory keeping these days either happens in my planner, a traveler’s notebook, or a journal. I approach it much like I would a mini album. Last year in April during my daughter's senior year she and I took a trip to Boston and New York City, so I recorded some memories on the April spread in my planner.

This is a personal blog, but I am an employee and do receive financial compensation and material product from American Crafts/We R Memory Keepers. This post contains affiliate links to help support my blog. You are not charged any extra cost for purchasing supplies using those affiliate links. All ideas and opinions are my own.