Welcome to the “Inspired By DIY” series, a monthly blog hop where an awesome group of bloggers join together to share DIY projects and ideas inspired by some of our favorite designers and style icons!
We have such an exciting line-up of inspiration for the following months (this series will run through the end of July)! (This is the first and only project at the moment, but you’ll be able to find them all collected on this Inspired by DIY page later.)
And I’m especially excited that one of my absolute favorite sources of design inspiration was chosen for this first month: the talented filmmaker (and fellow Texan) Wes Anderson!
It’s no secret how much I love his work! For a refresher, check out this Wes-Anderson-inspired guest bedroom design in our first house, and of course, the wild and whimsical pink kitchen makeover in our current home!
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If you aren’t yet familiar with the whimsical, vintage style of Wes Anderson, I though I would share my three favorite films, all of which I highly recommend!
The Royal Tenenbaums | Moonrise Kingdom | The Grand Budapest Hotel
And if you’re already a fan of the Wes Anderson aesthetic, then I know you’ll enjoy this gorgeous coffee table book Bryan gave me for Christmas (without even realizing it was on my wishlist) – The Wes Anderson Collection.
The Wes Anderson Collection – such a good read, full of beautiful pictures!
Coming up with an idea for a Wes Anderson-inspired DIY project wasn’t difficult – I’ve actually been dreaming up this craft for ages!
DIY Vintage Tennis Racket Woven Wall Hangings
For some reason, the thrift stores around here are always full of old sporting equipment, specifically tennis rackets. (Which I find intriguing, but I digress.) And I can never spot those without instantly thinking of The Royal Tenenbaums.
Add in my love for DIY wall hangings (even better if they’re created inside unexpected weaving frames) and some vintage-inspired colors of yarn, and you have a perfectly-campy craft worthy of the Khaki Scouts from Moonrise Kingdom!
These were ridiculously easy to create and came together quickly – perfect busy-work while you’re catching up on your Wes Anderson anthology!
Supplies:
- Vintage tennis racket(s) – I found these at my favorite local thrift store and love the vintage graphics!
- Yarn, colors of your choice – I used cream, red, mustard yellow (not pictured), royal blue, blush pink, olive green, and a dark grey-brown.
- Plastic canvas needle
- Scissors
Stitching:
You can think of this as either embroidery or weaving – the technique is a little bit of both. Basically, I use each “box” created by the network of strings to wrap with a single color of yarn.
It’s a lot easier to let this photo show you what I mean:
I used the plastic needle to “stitch” the boxes, one color at a time.
The pattern is totally up to you! Geometric shapes work well with the handy grid of the strings, but if you can pixelate the design you’re envisioning, you can create it!
As you can see, I alternated between wrapping each box horizontally and vertically – it made for a really pretty woven appearance:
Closeup of the from of the design:
When you finish a color (with the needle on the back of the racket), you just thread it through a few stitched boxes and clip the yarn:
Closeup of the back of the design:
I really didn’t plan my patterns out ahead of time – I pre-selected my colors, and then decided to wing it and see what happened!
Then, I just used a few small nails through the woven heads of the rackets to hang them above our eating nook:
I wonder how many vintage tennis racket wall hangings would be too many for one home, because I’m totally ready to work on another set!
I hope you’ll scroll down and visit the other bloggers participating in today’s hop – I’m so excited to see how these talented ladies incorporate some Wes Anderson style in their homes!
Domicile 37 | Up to Date Interiors | PMQ for Two | The Gathered Home | The Rath Project | 58 Water Street | Semi Gloss Design | Jest Cafe | The Home I Create
P.S. Pin it if you love it!
such a clever idea, brynne! these are SO fun!
Thank you Cassie! They were super fun to make… I might have a new hobby! 😀
OMG Brynne, I love these soooo much! They look amazing and are so fun!
Thanks Emy! Do you need one for one of your Wes Anderson spaces? I’m itching to make more! 😀
You know that I pinned the heck out of this right?! LOVE
Aw, thanks Ariel! They were so fun to make!
So cute, I love it. Now that I think about it, I have a couple old rackets lying around… 🙂
Thank you so much, Staci! You should totally make one (or more…) – it was so easy and fun!
You are so clever! I love two of these movies but the one pictured in the middle I am not familiar with. I will remedy that soon.
Very cool idea to do geometrics on the racquets. It struck me how challenging (it would be for me anyway) to do a face on the whole oval of the racquet kind of in the style of Chuck Close. Just a thought… probably because faces interest me.
At any rate they look great in your breakfast nook.
Thank you so much, Ellen! Moonrise Kingdom is such a cute one, and I’m pretty sure it’s available to stream on Netflix still, if you have that!
I had to look up Chuck Close – wow! That would be incredible! I nominate you to take on that challenge! 😀
I am totally swooning with jealousy…those rackets are perfection!!!!! I love how you took it up a notch with the yarn and the pattern….LOVE IT!!! Also, in my Amazon wish list, I too have the Wes Anderson book in there. I am waiting for the mister to gift it to me. So cool!
Thank you Jessica! I love the Wes Anderson book – it was so fun to read about how he and the Wilson brothers got started right here in Dallas!
Love, love, love this idea! So creative and the pattern/colors are perfect!
Thank you so much, Pam! This color palette is popping up throughout my house these days – except for the royal blue, which I just might need to start adding!
So Wes Andersony! What a way to transform some old tennis rackets… very creative
Thank you Mila! It was such an easy and fun project!
So creative and perfect for your Wes Anderson kitchen. I absolutely adore it! (Wahoo for a fellow Texan!)
Thanks Kathy! I’ve been dreaming of adding these for a while – so glad I had this challenge to prompt me to finally tackle the project!
Brynne these look fantastic! I’m not sure I could ever some up with something so creative with tennis rackets. It looks great with your style. Also, your roman shade is so reminiscent of the zebra wallpaper from The Royal Tenenbaums 🙂
Thank you so much, Linda! I searched high and low for a budget way to add some Margot Tenenbaum zebra print to the mix – and I might just like this fabric print even better!
What a perfect addition to your kitchen! I don’t think you could ever have too many of these in your home ?
Thank you Diane! I may need to test that theory!
These are amazing – love how they’ve turned out! I once made a Fantastic Mr Fox if that counts haha but honestly these are gorgeous! Love your decor so much! x
Oh yes! That absolutely counts!
Thank you so much, Tereza!
oh my goodness–I LOVE this idea! And beautifully executed!
Thank you so much, Gretchen! I could totally see one of these added to your gallery wall – just sayin’! 😀
Hi! I know this is from a while ago so I’m not sure you’ll see this, but can I ask if you used a particular brand/type of yarn? wool vs acrylic, gauge, etc? Thanks 🙂 thinking of making this for my brother this weekend.
Hi Emma! So sorry I’m just now getting around to checking my comments that are pending approval! I know I already got to see your gorgeous finished product, but for anyone else wondering, I just used the yarn I already had in my stash (a blend of textures, materials), so I’d say it doesn’t really matter! 🙂
Those are badminton racquets not tennis. Beautiful nonetheless.