Wrappin' It Up!

Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I posted but I have been sooo busy with my two part time jobs and making items on the side. I have had a small stream of Bloomin' Bow orders coming in, nothing crazy but just a few here or there. But most of my free time (when I'm not working at the gym, the restaurant, cooking & cleaning for my family, taking care of my children, and trying to sleep) has been making some really fun & trendy items for a a local store.

Beautiful Hutch featuring china & burlap creations.
Everything in the picture is for sale.

Arlene's booth with so many beautiful up-cycled, refurbished &
hand-made items ready to go home with you now!

I have to tell you about this great little place here in the town I live in, Powder Springs. It's called Treasure Hunt. It's an antique mall, you know the kind, local dealers can rent out booth spaces to sell their wares of antique, hand made & well, just about anything really. I LOVE those kinds of places.  It's kind of like yard / tag sales but all inside, climate controlled and well, a bit nicer. Not don't think you are going to go and get stuff dirt cheap. (well sometimes you can) but lots of items are unique, vintage, nostalgic and a little pricey.  But mixed right in are great little finds of one offs, fixer-uppers & well....Treasures!  I have partnered up with a VERY talented woman, her name is Arlene F., she is an interior designer and works with fabric (inc. burlap) to recreate some of the most beautiful items I have ever seen. Her booth (seen above) is one of the first you will see when you walk in and she has generously allowed me to place some of my handy work in her booth as we seem to compliment each other's style so well!

So between work, home life & my side crafts, to say I am busy is an understatement. There are so many things I have made for the booth recently that I get started and FORGET to photograph the steps to share with you.  However, I put one together yesterday, it took me about 45 min from beginning to end and I and I want to share it with you.

I LOVE Burlap & Jute twin, I love the natural feel it gives to so many things and if I am not careful I will end up wrapping the kids in it soon!  LOL (just kidding folks) But seriously, for just a little bit of money you can wrap something up in this amazing thread and it breaths a whole new life into it and gives it a look that makes heads turn. I know my head has been yanked a time or two and I hope you like what I have put together for you this time.

Jute Wrapped Glass Bottle

Now you can wrap just about any glass bottle you like as long as it has a smooth surface. If it has too many raised areas or a think texture it won't have this smooth look but hey, you might like that so give it a try! One of my part time jobs is in a restaurant that has a bar and the bartender has been so nice to save some of my favorite looking liquor bottles for me when they go empty. This is exciting for me because well, I love a nice glass of wine now and then but I have never been a hard liquor person, so if I waited until I finished one, I would not have anything to wrap. However I have a few wine bottles that are next so I will update later when they are done.

This particular bottle is a Patron Citronge bottle. I liked it for it's shape and the bottle is already frosted, so one I remove the label I don't need to paint or anything  However this one I totally wrapped so it didn't matter, I have another that I plan to do differently, can't wait to see!

So here is all you need to get started:

1. Jute twine (I recommend 3 or 4 ply, at least, any smaller you will be wrapping for days)
2. Glass bottle of your choice
3. Glue gun & sticks

That's it!  Now let's get started:

Something I have learned the hard way, you always want to wrap from the smaller part of the bottle to the larger, the twine has a tendency to 'roll' toward the small section and if you don't you will be forever pushing it (which is not a bad idea to do occasionally unless you want little gaps & spaces between the twine) 

On this bottle I started at the mouth, but regardless of where you start, cut the twine at a slight angle so it lies smoothly against itself as it comes around, that will give you a clean start & end so your items have that "Hand Made" and not 'home-made' look. 

Starting out will be the slowest part as you want to make sure it is nice & round and glued securely to set the pace for the rest of the bottle.  This particular bottle had a unique shaped mouth so I took my time to carefully cover it so there were no gaps.

Once you get it started you and pic up the pace (if you feel confident) and start wrapping & wrapping. This part can seem a little boring but I think its fun to see it take on it's personality.

Tip: glue each row is not ALWAYS necessary as you are wrapping toward the larger section. Because the twine will sort of slide or roll back you can glue maybe every other 2-3 rows. However if you are wrapping toward a smaller section (or as you will see next my bottle starts getting narrower) you will want to make sure you glue as you go to keep it in place and the rows next to each other.

Isn't it already looking so pretty!

Lastly, you can chose to wrap to just the bottom edge of the bottle or all the way under to cover the bottom, the choice is yours. If you are going to place on a glass shelf, maybe you will want twine on the bottom. Mine for now will sit on my mantel so it didn't matter and I saved the time & twine. However, if you choose to cover the bottom, you will need to glue every section so it will stick to the bottom.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I added some small threads from some cream color burlap I had removed from an earlier project to accent the bottle, but all by it self it is just stunning. I can't wait to finish the others to make my own Jute collection. I would love to see your finished bottles, so please come back and comment with your pictures to share your talent as well!  I started listing some of my burlap & jute creations for sale, so stop by my Craft Cafe shop sometime and make it a favorite! 

Until next time.................

And the twine rolls on.........................................

'Jute' said it would work!

So I have seen so many tutorials of wrapping any and all kinds of containers with Jute twine to make some really beautiful & rustic storage containers. Well certainly I have to have some and if I can make it instead of buy it then all the more so!  So in my endeavor to do my part, I have been saving ALL my tin cans from veggies & sauces and purchased a decent size roll of jute twine.  Now, there are lots of places out there to find the stuff, craft stores, hardware / gardening stores, you can even find people selling it online per yard (but honestly that is WAY more expensive than it should be) but IF you can not find it locally then get some online but you will want to have at least 3-5 yards for a small project like the one I did here.  So this if my first try and here is what I found:

I started w/ a smaller tin, this was one of the small tomato sauce cans (you know the ones that are about .30-.50 each. Just in case it was tricky I didn't want to waste too much of my twine. (don't worry, you are going to love doing this)

Make sure you start with a clean tin (obviously but must be said....)

Remove all the outer labels and I run mine through the dishwasher and dry really well.

All you need for this project is:

1. Any size tin can
2. Jute twine 
3. Hot glue (or fast drying glue)
4. Embellishments  like ribbon, lace or buttons(optional)
5. Felt (optional)

Most tin cans have a ridged pattern which makes starting the twin and wrapping even easier. If you are just not confident in yourself, make sure you start with one like this to help guide you but you will be a pro in no time!  I suggest gluing the first 3-4 rows completely for security and to give you good tension for the rest of the can.

(Fig. 1) After the first few rows just pull and wrap, keeping tension on the twine.  It's not necessary to wrap closely, just keep the tension (fig. 2), just wrap several rows tightly and then push them down as shows (fig. 3)  I realized this technique half way through, it makes the project go much more quickly!

The wrapping process is not difficult, just practice and you will find your grove. I did however put a tack or two or glue ever 5-6 rows so I knew it would not move for sure. 

Continue this until you get to the top of the can. You will notice the top has a lip which sticks out slightly  that is perfect, (Fig. 1) just slowly wrap & glue your final 2-3 rows like you did at the bottom of the can in the beginning. When all done just trim off twine (Fig.2) and finish neatly. If you are careful you can do this with the hot glue OR a fast drying clear glue would work great if you have a heavy trigger finger on the glue  gun.  When all done your wrapped tin will look a little 'messy' (Fig. 3) because well, this is a natural fiber but that's on, just get out your scissors and trim off all those stray fibers.  IF you plan to put this on a delicate surface you can measure and cover the bottom (Fig. 4) with felt but I saw no reason for this in my case, but it would give a nice finish if you are gift giving. The final look (Fig. 5) a beautiful natural jute twine covered tin to hold whatever your heart desires!

Spend your most time stating & ending your twine to give is a nice finished look. If you just can't get a smooth finish, then cover the rims with ribbon, lace or embellishments. Make it work, honestly w/ the natural fibers you will probably be the only person who notices anyway.

Now, those of you who know me know that I can't leave it just  like this, NO WAY!  And if you don't know me personally you will get to as we move on.  I wanted to give this as a little thank you gift so I wanted to put a little extra touch to it, so I went to my ribbon collection then found some various buttons, played with it for a little bit and VOILA! an adorable rustic accessory perfect for holding..............whatever the receiver wants, but this was plenty big for my pens in my studio!  

I simply love this!  I am going to try to get out of my head on the next few and not be so symmetrical with my finishing touches, I think it would give a whimsy look for sure!

Well now I'm really hooked! I knew I liked this project when I saw it but now I can't wait to make more of these for all over the house AND I will add my personal touch to make them coordinate with the different areas of the house!  I think I will experiment with different twine colors and other techniques.  As I do I will update you with more end pictures. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed making this. Total time was maybe 30 min. So a quick little fun task for this size.

Please share if you like, I don't mind & I hope my instructions were easy to follow. 

Comments or suggestions, bring 'em on!  Have a great day and don't forget to put your twist on it!

Tackling the Studio (a.k.a. the basement)

Everything is being pulled from boxes & sorted,
waiting for pegboard and shelves.

Evening friends, this weeks undertaking is a big one.  I am setting out to to transform our basement into a Studio/Craft Room for my Bloomin' Bows & all those projects we are going to bring to life from all local sources.  You have to be a real visionary to see what this mess of concrete walls and 2x4 studs has the potential to be........

I realized it's not the beautiful painted walls, plus carpet & white modular craft storage that so many are fond of at your local craft store BUT the whole room is mine. I can arrange it how I want. I have some large area rugs to go down as soon as I clear my tables and little by little it will be my own 

escape from reality and a way to express myself through many forms of crafty-ware!  

Eeeekkk.... I can't wait!

So after MUCH nagging & begging I FINALLY got my hubby to get down here and hang all my pegboard. After he suffered much frustration with drilling holes into the cement walls and then the screws not holding, I sort of suggested an idea I had seen on Pinterest about using liquid nail. After a brief pause, a side look with a smirk, he said "that's not a bad idea, glad I thought of it". So after a 3rd run to Home Depot, he came back with "the stuff" to get my pegboard on the wall!

Yes, that is my sweet hubby putting in place
the spacing boards for my pegboard.

So the boards with us very easy (almost too easy, maybe I will get more projects done around the house now). As soon as those were up and level the pegboard went up even easier.

Now I know it has a long way to go, but don't you think it has potential?  Come on, are you seeing my vision yet?

Paint the table, put in some more lighting, find some nifty pegboard baskets, shelves & such and I will have a real working craft extravaganza!  And look, there is room enough to have several projects going at one time, which is usually the case with me. So now I have to work on a special order for some Minnie Mouse bows & LOOK! I can find everything I need, everyone sigh with me...

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I would love to hear your thoughts of what I have going here, what would you do differently? Any suggestions, I think it needs color don't you? 

Embarking on the big journey.

Happy Sunday afternoon. While I have a ton of things on my plate and not to mention a ton of ideas in my head, writing everything down may be just one more thing to add to my list, but I figured why not. I enjoy reading so many others great ideas and adventures so I felt I wanted to share some of mine. I have discovered some really great places (and people) that I want to share with others and introduce you to. So even if you don't live in my little town of Powder Springs, GA, you can share my travels in search of unique items to make over my home and meet these great people along the way.  I spend a lot of time on my Pinterest page looking for new things to make for my home, (going to be re-creating a lot of them and showing the steps here) I love my Facebook & Twitter pages, they help me connect with some great people!
 
NOW........what journey shall I take you on?  How about the main journey, the one of making our new house a home. We moved into a new home on Sept. 1 from the small ranch house we lived in for almost 12 years. The reason we left our previous home, well.... I will share that with you at another time, but our new home is perfect for our family of 4. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a bonus bedroom/office, full basement and a room over the garage that as of now is unfinished BUT would make a great bonus room. The basement is unfinished now but quite usable, it hosts my washer & dryer and what is soon to be my Studio/Craft room where all my ideas & crafts will come to be. Now it is a jumbled mess but will one day be the room of my dreams. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the craft room of my dreams..............  sorry about that, got sidetracked in a little daydream again. I have to stop doing that, I don't want to loose you.

So this big journey is a huge undertaking, I am quite overwhelmed with it, so along the way we will take small trips to create cute centerpieces, adorable add-ons and amazing mantels which together will make a house a warm & welcoming home.  I will share before & after pictures and I welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas.  Together will we try some lay outs and see what works best!

I want you to be a part of this blog just as much as I am, so feel free to let me know what you think of the tasks we take on and how you like the layout. Should I re-arrange or try something new? Please let me know, I can't wait to hear from you all!  This is our new place we just moved into, lots of room, neutral colors through out, it's like a blank canvas, so let's get started................