twine

DIY Oversized Dreamcatcher

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Hello World,

I usually don’t post about my personal life on here, but today’s tutorial is different. It holds a deeper meaning to me. My grandma (I called her Granny) passed away almost two years ago, and my family was given some of her things. Granny was very bright, loved to read, collected quirky cat figurines, and had doilies all around her home. I have had one of her doilies, and finally found a symbolic way to use it.

Granny liked to focus on the positive, and didn’t let negativity get to her. I find this attitude towards life similar to a dreamcatcher. In some Native American cultures, dreamcatchers are believed to filter out bad dreams, letting only the good dreams through. So I used one of her doilies to make an oversized dreamcatcher, as a happy reminder of her, and to remind me focus on the positive, no matter what life throws at me.

Check out the tutorial below:

dreamcatcher

1. Gather your supplies: a small hula-hoop (mine was from the dollar store), a doily, twine, scissors, various lace trimmings (I found mine at thrift shops), beads, buttons, and fabric glue (not pictured).

2. Pop in your favorite movie, and start wrapping your twine around your hula hoop. Continue until you have completely covered it.

3. Take note of how many points your doily has. Mine had 12.

4. Start by tying a tail end of twine to your hoop. 1/12 along the way of my hoop, I pulled tightly, and looped my twine around my hoop. I repeated this until I had a 12 sided polygon inside my hoop.

5. I continued around a second time, this time looping my twine through the center point of each previously-created polygon side. My doily was large, so I didn’t continue working around the twine spiral. If yours is smaller, continue working your way around. Tie a knot when you reach your stopping point.

6. To attach my doily, instead of working it into the twine spiral, I just looped twine through one of the corners, and tied it to the hoop. I hid my tail ends my wrapping them around the hoop a bit.

7. Attach your various lace trims to your hoop. Either knot them onto it, or fold them over and glue in place.

8. Add any other trimmings to your dreamcatcher. I tied on pearl strands, twine braids, and other beaded strands.

9. To hang it, I looped a piece of trim around the top of my hoop and glued the tail ends together to create a loop. I also added a vintage brooch to the doily of my dreamcatcher.

I haven’t added feathers to mine just yet, as I haven’t stumbled across the perfect feathers yet.

Happy crafting! Be happy!

 

Clay + Twine Bracelets

Hello World,

Have you ever worked with Super Sculpey? A professor back in college introduced me to it because unlike regular oven-bake clay, it cooks into a ceramic-like material (that is pretty much shatter-proof). It actually feels more like plastic once cooked, and it slightly bendable.

I had decent amount leftover from art projects, and decided to whip up some bracelets with my own custom charms.

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Check out below for how to make some yourself. Warning: this tutorial is longer than usual.

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1. Gather your supplies: oven-bake clay (and a standard kitchen oven), aluminum foil to cook it on,  twine (mine is baker’s twine), scissors, spray paint, and beads along with a short piece of jewelry wire (not pictured).

2. Break off a quarter-sized amount of clay.

3. Play with the clay until it is more pliable.

4. Roll your clay into a nice, even log.

5. Connect the two ends of your log together, and then roll the connected area between your fingers until the seam blends away.

6. Holding your loop, twist it until you form an infinity symbol.

7.  Bake your clay according to your box directions, allow to cool, and then paint.

8.  Cut out 2-4 pieces of twine, all the same length. If you are unsure of the length, cut each piece equal to the circumference of your wrist. If it ends up being too long, you can always trim it later.

9.  For this bracelet, I used four pieces of twine. I paired two for each side. Fold them in half and feed the looped end through your infinity charm.

10.  Pull the corresponding tail ends through the thread loops, trapping the infinity charm.

11.  Now, if your twine is too difficult to feed through a bead, use this trick: get your jewelry wire, and fold it gently in half.

12.  Loop the wire around a tail end of your twine, and feed the bead onto the wire.

13.  Pull the wire through the bead.

14.  Pull until the tail end of your twine is through the bead.

15.  Tie double knots at the end of each twine to secure your beads.

16.  To wear your new bracelet, either tie a simple knot around your wrist, or do a sliding knot. I used this tutorial to do my knots: YouTube.

Experiment with different shapes, colors, ect, and enjoy your new arm candy!

Happy Crafting!

Make your own Seashell Garland

Hello World,

I have been on an ocean kick lately: from accessories, to the bottles of wine I buy, to home decor. I have found it difficult to find beach-inspired home decor though that isn’t too ‘loud.’

With that being said, I decided to make some simple seashell garland. I currently don’t have any power tools, so I used a wrapping method to make my garland (instead of drilling holes into each shell.)

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Check out below for the instructions:

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1.  Gather your supplies: seashells (I found a nice, big bag at a thrift shop for $2), twine (mine is hemp) and scissors.

2.  Pick your first sea shell. I picked ones for this project that had a nice ‘bulge’ on the top. (So my twine wouldn’t slide off.)

3.  Lay your seashell on top of your twine, with your tail end above it. (I didn’t cut my twine until I was done with my garland.)

4.  Wrap your twine around your shell, and loop it around the back, making an upside down ‘V’ in the back.

5.  Continue wrapping your twine around the front, making an uneven ‘X.’

6.  With both ends of your twine at the top, pull it tightly around the shell. Tie a knot, trapping the back ‘V’ in the knot.

7.  If your twine ends are aiming in wonky directions, simply feed the twine under your knot to force it to lay more flat.

8. Continue with the rest of your shells. I left 3-4 inches of twine between each shell.

Happy Crafting!