Twine It Up

I have a thing with glass jars and bottles: I can’t throw any of them away. I scrape off the label, clean them, and put them aside for random projects like this one. I ended up using two jars I had laying around, one old spice jar and I honestly can’t remember what the second jar was, maybe a jelly or salsa?

Materials needed:

• Glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Twine
• Yarn (color(s) of your choice)

This is a pretty basic project, easily done in an hour in front of the TV. After the bottles have been de-labeled, cleaned, and dried simply put a dot of glue on the bottom and start winding the yarn around, going up the sides, until you decide you want to switch to twine. I kept adding glue for every row to ensure the yarn stayed in place and continued that pattern for the twine.

I ended up doing these two slightly differently. For the larger jar I started with the yarn on the bottom and for the spice jar I started on the sides. When they are displayed, I can’t really tell a difference so do what you’d like depending on the bottom of the jar you’re using and how well it will stand with or without yarn on the bottom.

I filled one of mine with a collection of shells I have from various beach trips. It is a nice reminder of vacations I’ve taken and people who are special to me. And, since I had all of these materials on-hand this project was free! If you had to purchase yarn, twine, and a glue gun I’d imagine this might run you $25 (depending on how fancy you get with the glue gun and yarn) and you would have the materials for future projects. 

The style of these can vary greatly depending on what yarn/twine you used. Mine ended up with a slightly nautical look (partially because I added seashells) but they blend right into the rest of our decor. What combinations would you choose? I've seen some great projects around with neon rope which I think would be fun on these.

Enjoy!

Record Wall Art

The RE: and I have been living in our apartment for over a year now. And for that entire time I’ve been staring at a blank wall over our Klippan loveseat. The walls here cream with 1.5 inch molding boxing out squares, which I love! But after a year even the molding isn’t easing the pain of a picture/decoration/frameless wall. Something needed to be done. And it needed to be done free. Or as close to free as possible. Can anyone else believe how expensive frames are?

Around the time I started brainstorming my wall problem I was reorganizing our closet and noticed these records RE: grabbed from the yard sale pile when we moved my grandmother out of her house. Perfect! They were graphic, good and classic artists, there were some we’ve gotten from concerts we attended ourselves, and there were enough of them that had colors that jived with our living space.  

I did a little research into various options to hang/display the records but in the end I decided on using nails with wide and flat heads. Nothing like a cheap, easy, and quick project! I measured the records and the square on the wall where they would hang. Did some math and marked their placement on the wall in pencil. I knew those marks wouldn’t be enough for me to nail from so I used blue painter’s tape to make it clear where each nail would go.

Here’s the end result! I love the new wall ‘art’ and never get bored staring at the fun graphic covers of some legendary artists. It cost almost nothing. We used the wide head nails in this Ikea nail set, I already owned the hammer, painters tape, and records. 

And here’s what I see when I come in the front door:

Adios empty wall!