In Search Of. . . A Good DIY: Cross Stitch Key Hook

I have this thing about doing everything myself, this way everything always matches exactly. A while back I saw this big wall mural. It was paint, but it had the same effect as a cross stitch. I’d always thought it was pretty, but I never knew exactly where I’d paint one since I live in an apartment.

Then, the other day I was looking for a creative way to make a key hook, and I came across a picture with hooks drilled into the bottom.
Then it hit me. I could make a cross stitch painting key hook.
Here's how I did it.


All right, so to do this you need supplies, obviously.

You’ll need

•  A canvas
•  A ruler
•  Tracing paper
•  A pencil
•  Tape
•  Paint brushes/plate/rinsing cup
•  Paint
•  Lacquer
•  Hooks
•  A drill
•  Nails

Wow, that’s a lot of stuff.

The first step is come up with a design. If you don’t want to, you can also just get a real cross stitch and follow that pattern. I have these teapot dish rags that I wanted to carry over. That you can just draw out on a piece of regular paper, or tracing paper.

Next, make a grid on the tracing paper.
To do this, you measure the actual paint area, not the canvas size. If you go by actual canvas size, your grid will be wrong and you’ll have to adjust.
Unless you want to perfect your grid making techniques, tape this one down to your surface and use it every time.

Then, you want to a color study, to see how your colors and your design will fit together. I did two, one in colored pencils, and the other in paint. You don’t have to do two, but it helps your mind be prepared for the actual thing.

Tape a second piece of tracing paper over your grid paper. I will tell you this now; you can sketch it on there, but follow the rules of cross stitch. If you don’t, it won’t look exactly right, unless you don’t care. I wanted mine to look like an actual cross stitch.
So remember, your “stitches” need to look like this.

All right, so now that you've driven yourself insane with painting your grid, you get to draw yet another one, but this time on the canvas.

If you do a color wash on your canvas, do it before rather than after you draw the grid. Be sure to draw the lines lightly, because they don’t exactly erase very well. You won’t see them unless you know what you’re looking for or have really light colors.

Now, you begin painting. It takes a while unless you've got an easy design and a small canvas. It took me a few days to get it to where I wanted it to be. That’s because I accepted some terms and agreements that obligated me to do everything the long way. I shaded mine.

Once you’re done painting it, spray some lacquer on it to make it shiny and protect the paint. Do this part outside. Your painting will smell for a while.

You’re perfectly all right to stop here if you just want a painting. It will look really pretty.

If you want the key hook, you go a little further.

On the bottom, mark out where you’d like the key hooks to go. You want the kind that has the screw on one end, if there are any other kinds. You also want the sturdy kind to hold the wait of your keys. I got mine from Walmart for a whopping $0.97.

Take your drill and start a hole where you marked. It will take a little bit to get through the canvas.

Once you do that, take the screws and twist them into the start holes. Hold them straight because they will turn and you’ll have to do the drilling bit over at least three times.

And Finito!

Hang your practical work of art and enjoy.

As Always,