Nautical Knots

admit that title made you want to sing the Spongebob theme song please.

anywho.
I have a mason jar full of sea glass I've been collecting and while it is beautiful all on it's own.... I'm not a minimalist, more is more! So I added my favorite go-to-Grenada crafting supply - jute twine!

before

Cut a very long piece of jute, more than twice the length of the mason jar.
Tie it around the rim of the jar and allowing the strands to hang down about twice as long as the jar.
Cut 5 additional pieces of jute and tie in evenly spaced out knots to the original piece of jute around the rim allowing the strands to hang down.

Gather a strand of jute from each adjoining knot and tie together creating a triangle or diamond shape.

Continue tying knots until the entire jar is covered and secure the remaining twine on the bottom of the jar with hot glue.

If I don't get out of Grenada soon my entire house and jewelry collection is going to be covered in jute twine!!!

Macrame Necklace

You've probably seen this floating around the internet and pinterest.
I did and wanted one so I got my supplies and made this is about 5 minutes. 
Easiest thing I've ever done, seriously! 

This is the tutorial I used here - http://www.macramelovers.com/blog/macrame-jewelry/macrame-necklace/
I didn't have the chain so I used my handy dandy jute twine :)

I've been super busy lately, my volunteering has started to pick up and I've been spending my afternoons with the sweet little kiddos, so not a whole lota time to blog/craft.... but I do have a few projects I've been working on so stay tuned!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Jute ampersand

If you've been around my blog much you know that I have developed a love of jute twine.
It's beachy and cheap! 2 of my favorites

Most of my inspiration comes out of the blue and fast, if I have something in my head I must do it NOW.
I woke up with the crafting bug eating away at me and soon decided I wanted to make a 3-D letter.
My 1st thought was of making a letter 'C' and to glue EC coins all over it, like those I made the earrings out of.  I quickly changed my mind to doing the ampersand instead... and after playing around with the coins I decided that it wouldn't look quite as sleek as I wanted so I scratched that and turned to my reliable twine.

I sketched out an ampersand on the cardboard which was leftover from some packaging

cut it out

and started wrapping the twine around

the back is messy, but no one is going to see it.  I tied a knot when I started and used hot glue to secure it down.

the angles made it hard to continuously wrap the twine around... so I had to leave some bare spots which I later when back and filled in.

I decided to dress it up with a couple sand dollars I had laying around and add to it's beachy-ness
It is photographed hanging from our shutters outside because the lighting was much better than inside.

I made this ampersand mostly as another souvenir to take back to America with me in December.  I am running out of space in this tiny apartment to keep up with all my crafting!  I can't stop!

So it gets added to the growing pile of souvenirs I have.  Are there support groups for this type of thing??









linking up with:
http://www.creativejewishmom.com/

decorating with beach finds #4

I am constantly collecting shells here in Grenada.
but what do you do with them all? 
make art of course.

I started with another piece of wood I found on the side of the road (lots of wood lying around here evidently)

Then a collection of random shells in various sizes and colors

Then armed with a hot glue gun I created a heart out of the shells.

and finished it off with some twine wrapped around the edges to frame it.

it is not perfectly square and I like that about it, so I used to  twine border to emphasize it.


want some more shell projects?
shell windchime
shell display 
conch shell planters 

Linking up with :
The DIY Showoff
Craft Confessions 
Tip Junkie
Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug blessings 
Take a look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Funky Polkadot Giraffe 
Reasons to skip the housework
Coastal Charm 
Christina's Adventures

Necklace DIY: knotted.

My friend Cat over at Budget Blonde sent me a picture from a Nordstrom store of a necklace made out of rope tied in knots, because she's sweet and thought of me (and my need for the outside world probably) and she knew it'd be easy to re-create something similar!

Well as my excuse always is, I'm in Grenada.
The only thing I could find was some jute twine :/ (but it was super cheap!! less than $2us)
but I am pretty happy with my first attempt at a necklace out of it and I made a bracelet too.





I learned how to tie a few different knots here.
Oh those boy scouts... always prepared.

Since this is the only twine I have... I currently have some soaking in bleach and another in food coloring to make some different colors... so more to come!