Che's Christmas Present, or "The Gift that Nearly Drove our Downstairs Neighbors to Call the Cops"

Sparrow's been keeping a secret....Husband's Christmas present!

Now that Christmas is passed, and Husband has his present, we can let you in on the secret too.

Before sparrow tries to describe it, here's a little peek:

So...what is it?

It's Thread Typography (of course!).  Or, for normal people- thread art.  No this isn't like your Mom's string art hanging in her shag-carpeted rumpas room.  This is tactile.  Modern.  And it took months to make in total secrecy.

Here's a closer look.

Yes, those are nails, wire nails actually, holding all the thread in their little patterns.  And yes, sparrow had to tap every single nail, which might be around 350 or so, into very specific places.  When the project started, back in October,  the work room was the nest, where the first few dozen nails were tapped into place.  This quickly became a problem however, when the downstairs neighbors began wandering around outside the nest, wondering where that strange tapping noise was coming from. 

Fast forward a few weeks later, and sparrow found a new workroom, one in isolation where no one would be complaining about that silly tapping.  Ironically, this place was Husband's office.  Since Husband has band or music rehearsals at night at least twice a week, that left sparrow at least four hours each week to tap tap tap away in secret.  As Christmas day drew close, the workroom was once again relocated to the In-Laws where work could continue later into the night.

So why put one's self through so much work for so long for one little gift?  Simple!  Sparrow loves Husband.  Husband loves typography.  Sparrow is crafty.  Add all of these things together and you have your reason.  Also, the project, in terms of supplies was very inexpensive.  Here's a breakdown:

-One 26x40(ish) piece of particle board, actually a cut down shelving unit from Home Depo- $12.99
-One bundle of red embroidery thread (the very large kind)- $5.99
-Five packs of wire nails -$1.99 each
-Tools from home: Hammer, Needle nose pliers- already owned
-One reproduction Map of Italy, from a local art store- $4.99
-Modge Podge and Mounting glue- already owned.
= Just under $30

Folks, for hand made art, $30.00 is a steal!  But the look on Husband's face when he finally received his gift Christmas eve, that was priceless.

For a look at how this was made, tune into the blog later for a to-do on making your own Thread Typography art.