Make Your Own Monday: Baker's Twine

Happy Halloween!!  I know I'm a day late in posting this.  But it will go along with today's Trendwatch post, so just stay tuned for the next post and you'll see!  EDITED TO ADD: Be sure to see Wednesday's post for a different method of this project!

I figured I'd take the chance to post a few Halloween pictures. If this is going to be late, I might as well make it worth it, right?

I have to say right up front that my Halloween photos aren't the best.  Yet again, I insisted to myself that my iPhone camera would  be just fine.  I think I need to just put some electrical tape over the camera port to stop myself.  What is wrong with me?

Saturday night we went to a party at Trevor and Molli's house.  It was so much fun.  The girls were beside themselves with excitement!  Here they are in the car on the way.  Right before they both fell asleep.  You heard it right, from overflowing excitement to comatose in about 30 seconds.  That's Bryson kids for ya!  It didn't help that they had a sleepover at their friend's house the night before and there wasn't much sleep happening.  We should call them stay-awake-overs instead.

As we discussed last week, Hailey wanted to be a Black Cat and Samantha, a Native American girl.  Here they are waiting for the bus on Halloween morning.

Yes I did make Samantha's costume.  It was surprisingly easy.  I don't know why I was dreading it!  I picked up some faux leather material at the Walmart fabric counter.  Then, honestly, I just drew the pattern right on the fabric and cut it out. I can't believe it worked!  Hahahah!  The face painting is what makes Hailey's costume.  I got a little kit and just followed the instructions.  She was thrilled and it was so easy!

The funniest part of the whole day was trying to get Sam to say she was a Native American and not an Indian.  She kept saying, "But Mom, I'm dressed like an Indian!"  We had tried so hard to make something somewhat authentic but she just couldn't get the more politically correct term. She wanted to be Kaya from the American Girl books.  I copied one of the costumes from the illustrations and the face painting we copied from the historical information at the back of the book.  It was fun and she was thrilled that I took the time to make the costume.  She only had to harass me every day for two weeks to get it done. That's actually pretty good for considering my normal track record on things!

Look, even Bandit got in the Halloween spirit!

Poor Bandit was very annoyed by the costume.  He didn't like to walk around in it so I had to carry the little guy around.  He hardly even had the courage to bark at any of the trick or treaters! There was some subdued barking at a kid or two in scream masks and at a couple of little ballerina girls but that was it.  Oh yes, and at the pizza delivery lady dressed as a cop.  At least I think that's what she was.  She had on a police shirt and badge but was wearing a tutu.  And she gave me pizza.  So I guess we're good with it!

Okay, on with today's little tutorial!

Today you are going to learn to Make Your Own... Baker's Twine

Baker's twine is a the new hot "ribbon equivalent" these days.  You can buy it in lots of colors now.  Unfortunately, it's pretty pricey.  So, I figured, why not make my own?  I've seen several tutorials around for making it.  Here's my version.  Do I think it looks just like the real stuff?  No, not really.  But it does look pretty on a project and if you aren't too picky, it will do.

The process is simple.  Put some tape on a ruler, wrap some string around said ruler, then color the string with permanent markers.  That's it!

Variations above are from left to right: Black Sharpie on White Cotton, Pink Copic on White Cotton, Mixed Copics on Ecru Cotton, Navy Copic on White Cotton

I tried a couple of different markers.  The Sharpie-type of permanent marker works good for getting fairly precise lines, but I found that the color often didn't make it all the way through the string so it looks kind of spotty when it's removed from the ruler {see the one all the way on the left in the picture}.  My Copic markers worked really well at getting the color all the way through but because of the bleed factor it didn't make very clean precise lines between the color and the white.  Overall I liked the Copic look better on the finished product.  Copics have the added advantage of being blendable so you can get just the right color.  You could try both and decide for yourself!

For the string, I used cotton crochet thread for the string and I think it worked just beautifully.  It's easy to tie and knot in general so it's a nice product to use in crafting.

Here's the tutorial, just click on it to open it larger and/or to save it.

And, here are a couple of recent projects I made using my homemade Baker's Twine.  What do you think?

Blue and white Baker's Twine on my Joy Fold Card.

Orange and White Baker's Twine on my Halloween Wreath.

What kinds of things will you make with this tutorial!  Leave me a comment below.  And if you do make something, leave a link below in the comments section.  I'd love to see it!

Time to get crafty, people!

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