Cactus String Art with Free Printable

If you’re looking for a fun home decor design to add texture and dimension to your wall, consider trying out string art! This is a fun craft activity to do alone or in a group, like a girls’ night out! Follow these steps, including downloading the free printable template, to create this cactus string art design for your home.

DISCLOSURE: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links, which come at no cost to you. Know that I only promote products I personally use and stand behind. To learn more about my affiliates, please review my disclosure policy.

String art is a mindless craft that I very soothing and fun. Smaller boards and designs don’t take long to complete which makes them perfect to do as a mini crafting class with friends. You can offer different designs and string colors or all the same. No matter what, each design can look completely different due to the stringing pattern you choose.

To make this cactus string art you will need:

Wood plaque
Wood stain
Rag
Wire Nails
Design (free template for this cactus design available here!)
Crochet string or baker’s twine
Hammer
Artificial flower
Hot Glue

First apply wood stain to the wood plaque. My hubby, luckily stepped in on this step and used an old tshirt rag to both wipe the stain on and off for a light look. If you’re doing this as a string art activity with friends, I’d suggest doing this step prior so it is dry for your craft night!

Once dry, place the design template onto the plaque. You can use a temporary adhesive to keep it down while you line up the next step, but I didn’t need it for this smaller design.

Use a hammer to nail in wire nails to follow the pattern. Start with nails at the key points (like corners and the tops of curves, and continue adding them around the shape. If desired, you could make marks on the template on where you want to add them before nailing them down, but I went ahead and eyeballed this step. Mine are about 1/2″ apart.

This wood plaque purchased at AC Moore was soft enough that there wasn’t a problem hammering it in, just be mindful of the surface you’re hammering on. This would be a fun activity to do with teens!

Tie your string onto one nail and go around the outside of the design first. I wrapped the string around each nail as I went ahead the cactus shape. You are now free to criss cross your heart out! This is where each nail art project will be completely different! Once you think you are happy with your design, go ahead and tie the string onto a nail and use a scissor to trim.