DIY Grinch String Art Decoration

Add some extra light to your holiday decor and make a lit Grinch, using string and LED lights.

Do you LOVE How The Grinch Stole Christmas? Such a great story. I’ve always been obsessed with that book and its awesome characters.

So lately, I’ve been inspired by some great string art and have been thinking about Christmas decorations. So I thought an idea might be to utilize fairy lights as string art to put a bright twist to the craft popularized in the 60’s.

String art is also called thread art and speaking of thread- what kind of string is used for string art? Many people like to use embroidery floss because it can provide nice detail and is easy to work with. However, you can use any string.

Since this large Grinch thread art uses LED lights, I wanted to use something substantial so that the “string” wouldn’t get lost behind the lights, so I used yarn.

Many times you’ll see string art that’s filled in- so that the threading wind back and forth across the shape and fills it in. Again, for this one I wanted to keep it simple. I mean, the Grinch is a complicated soul, why complicate hime more? :0}

What nails are best to use for string art? I recommend the escutcheon pins I have linked below or something similar. They have the right sized head that will hold onto the string but isn’t too obtrusive.

I used plywood for this string art project, but you can use any kind of material- as long as it’s soft enough to take a nail, yet firm enough to hold a nail.

Also, if you haven’t seen them yet, I even have two other Grinch tutorials. This one is the Grinch Christmas decor tutorial, using cement and resin. And this one is a Grinch Clay Ornament.

And if you are looking for more inspiration, you may also be interested in the 39 Dollar Tree DIY Christmas Crafts & Decor post.

Some of the links on this page have been provided as a convenience for finding materials. These links may also be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. For each project, I do lots of tests and if a material or tool doesn’t work, I won’t list it. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

DIY Difficulty Level | Easy

Supplies Needed For Making DIY Grinch String Art

• 1/2″ Plywood (less likely to warp than 1/4″) cut to 22 x 48″
• *220 grit sand paper
• Led fairy string lights-33ft
• 1″ Escutcheon pins or shade bracket nails (head should be 15 or 16 mm)
• Thick red yarn
• Tape
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Hammer
• Power drill*
• 1/16″ bit*
• Printer*

*Not shown in photo

The Grinch String Art With Lights Tutorial Steps

Step 1 | Prep The Plywood

Sand the edges of the plywood just smooth smooth enough that you remove the splinters.

Step 2 | Print The DIY Grinch String Art Outline

Print out the Grinch using my free downloadable image. Depending on how your printer is set up, it may require 15 sheets of paper.

To get the download, enter your name and email in the form below the image. This will give you access to each of my design downloads.

Step 3 | Layout The DIY Grinch String Art Artwork

Keep the sheets in order when they come off the printer and number them and then lay them out on the plywood. Now carefully tape the sheets together so that the outlines line up.

You can trim the edge of each top sheet that overlaps if you want to make it perfect, but’s it’s not necessary.

After taping the image together, use the frame I drew in the printable to help center the image on the plywood. You may need to trim the outside edges of the paper if it overlaps the plywood.

Step 4 | Hammer The Nails

Now follow the outlines and start hammering in the nails. Go deep enough that they don’t fall out, but they don’t need to be too deep. Mine were about 1/3 of the way in.

At the upper parts of the body, I was more detailed and I put quite a few nails close together. Use this image below as your guide on where to place the nails.

Step 5 | Drill The Hole For Threading The Grinch String Art Lights

Drill a hole for the lights and string at the bottom of the Grinch where his feet meet.

Get it started by pulling the non-plugged end through the hole, then tape it to the paper to keep it in place, you’ll thread the lights later in Step 7.

**Please note, I had to adjust the way I did this, so in the following images the printed paper has been removed. Leave your paper attached, it will make it much easier.

Step 6 | Remove The Paper

Gently remove the paper by pulling from the edge. This took a little bit of work where the nails were close together.

Once all the paper is removed, just plug in your cheeky Grinch string art.

Let me know what you think!

FINAL STEP | String The Yarn, Then Lights

Next, start stringing the yarn. Tie the yarn to the nail at the middle of the feet, near where the lights are threaded through. Then work the yarn around the nails, don’t let the yarn overlap.

When you get to an area where you have to back track and it will overlap, just tie it off and trim the end, then start with a new piece.

The eyes, nose and eyebrows are the trickiest to do so use the image above as your template, if you’d like.

You may notice, I ended up with a couple of random nails for some reason that didn’t seem to be in the right place, so I just didn’t wrap yarn around them and pulled them out afterward.

Now go ahead and string the lights.

Hint: Be judicious with the placement of the lights because there’s just enough strand length to complete the Grinch. You want to avoid overlaps as much as possible and unlike the yarn, you can’t cut the lights.