DIY Tropical Wall Art

I have to say that I am falling in love with the look of tissue paper covered foam. Last month I shared our fairy tale mushrooms, which was the first time that we played around with tissue covered foam in the studio. We loved them so much that we knew we had to do some more exploring with the technique! After playing around with it we came up with this super cute tropical wall art for DIY home decor. Pineapples traditionally symbolize welcoming, warmth and hospitality, so I though it would be a perfect piece to display in a foyer. The tropical theme also makes it perfect for incorporating into beach house decor.

For the base of our tropical wall art we used a Floracraft® Make It:Fun® Foam Sheet. These sheets are particularly great for this project because they are very lightweight. Our wall art was made with the 1-inch sheet, but you could also use the 2-inch sheet if you wanted something a little bolder. Once you get your foam sheet, you will also need tissue paper, sewing pins, and embroidery floss for this project. You also have the option of using FloraCraft Smooth Finish on the foam to make it smoother. We wanted to create an ombre effect with our tissue paper, so we used five different colors starting with green moving to teal. When you apply the tissue paper, it almost makes a watercolor look against the foam. Make sure you also have Mod Podge glue for attaching the tissue.

Start from the bottom of the foam sheet and apply two layers of your first color of tissue paper. After doing this, we started adding tissue in strips on top of the first two layers, making some really gorgeous texture. After finishing this part of the project, you can move on to the sewing pins. We used 1.5-inch long sewing pins with gold heads, perfect for our tropical wall art! You can find the link for those in the Shop this Project section. Print the PDF template below, place it onto your foam, and then stick the sewing pins around the template to form the pineapple. Begin incorporating the embroidery floss by tying a small knot on one of the pins in the bottom left corner of the pineapple. From there you can wrap your embroidery floss as you like!

We used two strands of embroidery floss together to make our lines a bit thicker. We had a more minimalist approach with our tropical wall art, but you could easily create more detail in your pineapple by crossing the embroidery floss more. You also have the option of using yarn if you want something brighter. Generally, we crossed the floss horizontally for the body of the pineapple, and then vertically for the top of the pineapple. I love how it turned out! Most importantly, play around with it to find a style that fits you. String art can be so much fun, and it can create some truly beautiful pieces. To finish off your tropical wall art, you can also cover the back panel of foam with some felt. For more tropical goodies, check out my entire round up of tropical projects. I would absolutely love to see the pineapples that you craft, so please share your photos over Instagram with #DIYDreamingWithLia, or email them to hello@liagriffith.com! Happy crafting! ~ Lia

Gold Sewing Pins