I received this small craft kit from Joann fabrics.  They were having a sale where you got to pick any item from a table for free with a purchase of another item.  So, if you purchased 3 items from the store you were able to pick 3 items off the table for free.  There was no minimum purchase requirement or exclusions.   

I was surprised you had to make your own holes into the foam material.  It actually required a bit of strength to do this.  I did not see an age limit on this piece, but I could see a younger child needing to stop and take breaks for this step.  I have made a few of these on my own and the inserting of the nails or in this case plastic pegs is always the hardest part.  It was nice it had a blue frame around the piece.  This was also made out of foam.  

To make this piece I started off by inserting the peg pieces into the back dots.  If you are making your own design, then I recommend making a rough drawling in pencil of your shape first.  You may even want to mark where to place your nails as well to insure they are spaced nicely.  Then hammer in nails around your design.  This will take a while, but do not be skimpy with your nails.   

Next tie a knot with your string around one of the peg pieces (or nail if making your own).  Once the string is tied down wrap it around the outer perimeter of our design, ending where you tied the knot. For this particular paw shape, when going around the perimeter in needed to wrap the one peg once.  The instructions say to start with this piece for this reason, but I did not because I wanted my knot to be hidden a little more inside the design.  Then just start wrapping your string around the various pegs until every peg has been wrapped with the string at least once.  To wrap a peg, you just wrap the string around the peg once or twice then move onto the next one.  It tends to be better if you go to a peg further away from the one you just wrapped (do not go to the peg right next to the one you just did).  If you want your piece to look more fuller, then wrap then come back to the different pegs a few times, not just once.  You could also look up different patterns to make inside your design or use different colors of stings to add more color to your design.   

Once you are finished wrapping your pegs with the string, it is time to tie it off.  You can go back to your starting knot and knot the end of your string with the extra tail from the starting knot you made.  You could also cut your string and make a knot around the peg you just wrapped.  I recommend doing two knots either way you do it so it is more secure.  Then just cut any extra string off the ends.   

After I finished this piece I was actually left with a good amount of extra string.  So, I could have wrapped all the pegs probably twice.  I also had one extra peg left over as well.  These pieces can be a little time consuming, but I think they look very nice when they are finished.   

Check out this link to see one of the string art pieces I made myself.  I will give you a hint.  It is of a state.  (This one will be posted next week 7/27)