Rope Trick

This post once again is about what I found on Pinterest but here is the website that pin came from.  Here is my adventure

I wanted a more bowl like rope bowl so I picked a glass bowl.  I covered it with foil because I didn't want the hot glue or the other glue to stick to the bowl. 

So I started with a small circle in the middle on the bottom of the bowl.  This sisal rope is not as flexible as it looks.  You have to wrestle with it in the beginning but it does get easier as you go.

Here is the circle getting larger on the bottom of the bowl.  I used a glue gun to glue the rope in the beginning.

Here  the bowl starting to take shape.

All done wrapping.  I wanted measure to see how deep the bowl is.  After I finished I realized it's a bit deeper than I wanted. 

This is the finished bowl and the look inside.  It looks pretty neat at first glance. 

Out of the whole package of rope that I bought at Lowes, this is all that's left.  I think I might have enough to make another very smallish bowl.  Of course I have not yet but I will get around to it eventually.

I used hot glue to make sure that the rope stuck to itself, but the glue doesn't seem to be a strong as I would have liked so I watered down Mod Podge and took a really crappy paint brush and painted the whole inside and outside with the it.  I think it got two coats on both sides.  It's really stiff now.  I wanted it to be.  If you don't want yours that stiff, don't do as many coats or nothing at all. 

What did I learn?

1. Not everything on Pinterest is as easy as it looks.

2. This is a great idea, but the sisal rope is very scratchy even after the Mod Podge.

3. Use a different kind of rope for the next bowl or basket.

4.  Hot glue is not the end all be all.  Be careful when using it; it drips between the layers and doesn't hold as well as you think it will.

5.  Never cover the bowl with foil when using hot glue.  Eventually it will stick and you will have a basket or bowl with bits of foil stuck to it.  Using a wire form like the author did is best.  I had to scrape my bowl (the glass one) with a razor blade to get all the bits that stuck to it and then put it through the dishwasher.  I don't know what is the best way, but I'm thinkin' the foil is not. 

6. Keep trying, it's a fun project with lots of possibilities.

 

All Strung Up

I am trying to spread my wire wings by trying things with wire that are not jewelry related.  I am not interested in knitting or crocheting with wire but this project was both useful and cute, not to mention totally free...which is a bonus these days. 

Since the website and all the link are in French, I decided to look at the picture and try to wing it. Winging it could go either way...just saying.

I cut four size 18 wire that was purchased from a boxed hardware store.  I bought it a while ago for jewelry making and it didn't work out so I shelved it.  I thought it might be perfect for this project.  I tried counting how many pieces of wire was used and I think I counted eight so I cut four pieces of 36" wire.

I noticed on the bottom of the basket that it was held together with just a small piece of wire so of course I went nuts.

I then measured three inches on either since of the bottom attachement, then bent them as best I could to a 90 degree angle to create the bottom of the basket.  That created a wirey greased pig. 

The other basket had a ring around the top so I used a Claussen pickle jar I had on the bench to hold quilling odds and ends.

This is the end result.  It's a bit wonky but it's on it's way.

 Then I took some left over wire after snipping off the bones of the basket and hooked two of them together.  The project might be free, but wasting the wire would just be silly. 

 Here is is the finished basket.  Not much to look at though.  Hard to photograph too!

 But when you give it what it needs, then it shines, for it has a purpose.

 TADA.  Now doesn't that make a difference?  I kind of thought so.

 Even though it looks wonky, it does sit just fine on a table (after I stomped my feet and twisted that wire into submission).

 Potting bench made from old deck boards with wonky cotton string holder.

 

Cotton string's new home near the workbench.  Project done!  Thank you French speaking person who posted it. 

Things I learned

1.  I am a doofus about Pinterest stuff.

2. Not reading instructions will eventually catch up with me and cause a lovely project to go horribly.

3.I usually over estimate my creative ability and the ability to complete the project match the picture. 

4.  It really doesn't matter about 1, 2 and 3 because I had a good time and the finished project is okay with me.

Wordless Wednesday

Random Red Tuplips from front yard

 

Point me in the right direction

...again with the Pinterest!  In the knitting section of my pins there was the greatest idea!  I have no idea why I hadn't thought of this.  It's just stupid simple.  I am lucky to have a whole room that is dedicated to my business on Etsy.  It's also the temple for my knitting and any other hobby I go nuts over.  The only problem I have, is that I am running out of table space.  My work table is a hollow core door that used to be the top to my old desk.  It was eggplant purple like that room used to be.  Don't freak.  It's been repainted and made into a guest room and looks more conservative.  So I had to repaint the door and it's white, well a cream color and it's full of stuff.  When I saw this great idea on Pinterest I ran upstairs and found what I needed, begged the husband to make it happen and he did!  It only cost $4.  The only reason it even cost that much was because a new bit for the drill had to be purchased.  I had everything else. 

This is what I wanted to make.  I had a spare shelf that had been taken off the wall about to head to the yard sale room. When I saw how cool a project this was, and that it would cost little or no money I whipped out that shelf and got the project started.  I do want to add a side note to this.  I spent an hour searching backwards on Pinterest looking for a link or the original person who pinned the link to give them credit.  I went back 6 people and still never did find whose project it was.  They are genius and I think they deserve credit!!

So, here's how it got started.  K got out a tape measure and I zoned out and all I heard was, blah, blah, blah, and then I can drill it.  Truly I saw his lips moving and heard nothing!  I did hear him say to bring him all the straight needles  I had a lot.  I didn't realize I had so many in the same sizes.  I don't ever use straights anymore since discovering circulars but I will not throw them out. 

After matching up all the needles, K marked on the shelf how many pairs of what sizes I had.  He went into the garage and found a drill bit for every size of needles I had except for one (don't ask me which ones because I totally zoned out again).  So as I said above, we did have to spend $4 for a larger sized bit.  Here it is all done and hung up.  I am so excited about this project.

 

 

Here is the top view of the shelf.  You won't be able to set anything on top of it because needles have round heads and head that stick up.  I could set something non-breakable up there but I am not going to push my luck.

This pic is of the afghan hooks.  They don't come in pairs but I did have more than one in the same size, long hooks and shorter hooks.

This is better picture of how they look straight on.  As you can see to the right side of the shelf; I have more room for more needles but all mine are up there.  If I ever want to add something else, I can.  I thought about adding cup hooks and then hanging things knitting related from the hooks.  The only problem with that is Max the Mainecoon might think they are toys.   I am still thinking about how I can organize that end of the empty shelf. 

 

So there is a Pinterest idea that actually came to life for me.  I do love ideas on there that I can incorporate in my life without too much money or fuss.  Maybe all the hours I spend on Pinterest really is worth it?

Roy G. Biv

I have really fallen hard for Pinterest.  I fought it for about a year then finally got an invitation and joined.  I have not stopped pinning since.  I pin a billion things that interest me and might interest my family.  Since daughter-in-law and mother-in-law look for ideas for gifts for me, I put myself a "Gifts I Want" on my board.  All they have to do is log in and look at my list.  I got two things off of there last year for Christmas.  I got a lovely salt cellar and a dual purpose whisk that were on the list. It works!

The other day the weather was a little bit coolish and the baking bug bit me.  I had to have something baked.  I usually keep two or three boxes of boxed cake mixes for such sweet tooth emergencies.  So I fired up the oven and as I waited for it to heat up I got onto Pinterest and went to my board on Pinterest.  I have a cupcake board but let's face it, some of those are for real experts, which I am not.  Thankfully I have a grip on the basics. I found something that makes me smile every time I see it so that was the winner.

I have very basic icing skills so this fit the bill.  As usual I really didn't give the colors of the icing much thought so I dived in half cocked.  Thankfully it worked out okay but they didn't look like the picture...exactly.

Got big red ready and she didn't disappoint.  I used a friend's buttercream icing recipe and it's perfect every single time I have used it.  I won't use any other recipe ever again.



 

There are most of the ones I made.  I have more on the counter because they wouldn't all fit on the plate.  As you can see one didn't get the red on top, so guess who got eaten first??

I did notice after I made the cupcakes that I hadn't scrolled down far enough on the site.  It showed how to ice the cupcake.  I should have read the whole thing before starting but I truly didn't realize there was more.  I used a HUGE plain tip.  A medium would have been better.  When you eat one of these, you go into true sugar shock, but oh how delightful it was.  I will make these again another time.  I think they would be cute as black white or red , white and blue for July 4th?  The possibilities are endless.  It doesn't take much to make these adorable cupcakes. 

Crossroads

I wanted to start a new blog since this one has been so neglected for about two years but the name I wanted to use was already taken.  A second look at this blog has made me realize that I can still do what I want with this one and carry one blogging once again since now I have tons to time.  I quite my teaching job over a year ago and have been staying home full time.  It's been peaceful and I like it much better this way.  I have been doing more gardening, found two new hobbies I like, knit and crochet still although not as much as I used to due to the two new hobbies.  Those two new hobbies lead me down the rabbit hole and I think I like it.  So I will start blogging here again and see what happens.  This time it will be a mixutre of everything that is going on that I want to share.  I may or may not post daily or even weekly.  Just getting my toe back into the water is enough for now.  Blogger has changed lots of things since I was last here and I need some time to catch up.  For those of you who were faithful followers, thank you so much.  I still have some of the blogs I used to read listed on the side bar and those will be changing.  Some of those sites have come and gone (like you thought I had) and I will have to weed those out.  I will be adding new ones as I come across some that I like. And so it begins once again...