Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Homemade bakers twine

So I love to save money whenever I can as do most of us. I love the look of bakers twine, and in a few of the cards I have posted recently I have used my homemade bakers twine because I thought maybe I could make it cheaper than I could buy it. I was right.  I am very pleased with the results, and I had to share this easy technique.

So start with some size 3 cotton crochet thread





I bought this at walmart for under $4.00. this one is bridal white which is actually an off white, but I have been using the white white one.

Next tear up an old box into pieces. Mine turned out to be about 2 x 4 inches. I recommend using a different piece for each color as the colors will bleed (I found this out thru experimenting)

wrap the yarn around the  cardboard as shown below.I put some adhesive on card board just to help hold the string. I used the mono adhesive, but any tape runner type would work. I then stuck it to my jeans a couple times to make it less sticky. I didn't want the string to adhere permanently =).



Then use a sharpie, bik mark it, crayola or any other marker you have and color on some lines. I used all different markers with success. I colored lines across, then worked the marker under each piece to get it fully colored (that is why making the adhesive less sticky is important.)  I then unwrapped it and squealed with delight as the results were just what a I wanted. 



I did many different colors. Most of the inks created a darker color than I expected. I want to get some pastel markers to try.

Use it on your next project!!  I have certainly enjoyed this, it was easy to make, and fun to use, and the only thing I bought was the yarn.

1 comment:

Karen B. said...

Wow! What a cool tutorial, easy to understand and great pictures. Plus, the idea is just so neat!!