Craft #5-- String wrapped bottles

School has been keeping me busy lately!  So between that and a failed attempt at my next craft, I haven't gotten to post lately. So here's a simple, pretty, and actually fairly quick project for a weekend, or just any afternoon!  I actually had to go and find the pin, I didn't realize that I hadn't actually pinned it myself-- just seen it on my friends' boards. So here is the link to the pin I decided I liked best, but I didn't actually follow their directions. So, here's my version!

Basic idea: wrap a bottle in string. (A lot of my crafts seem to revolve around wrapping things)
I had these little mini glass wine bottles laying around because I thought they would make a really cute something-or-other, and then I used the same blue crochet thread from my other projects-- I had no idea it would come in this handy--and I used white glue, because it was what I had, but if you plan on using these for vases, it might be better to pick something a little less water-soluble.

I didn't peel the label off of my first bottle, thinking that I would just wrap the string really close together and you wouldn't be able to see it.  From far away you can't really tell, but from close up you can see the colors, especially the metallic, so I did peel what I could off of the second bottle, but I didn't spend too much time on it since I was still going to cover it up.

I put a dab of glue where I wanted my string to start, and smooshed it around where I wanted to start wrapping the string so there was a nice thin coating. I didn't want to end up with glue-coated string like from when I made the Easter eggs, but if that is indeed what you're going for, that could be cool too, and check out the craft!

Next step was to wind the string!
I wanted it to be nice and tight and pretty, and the best technique I found was to move the bottle rather than the string. I added more glue as I went along down the bottle, so that it didn't dry before I got there, and so that I had something not-gluey to hold.

I stopped wrapping a little bit before the bottom, just because, and smeared a nice dollop of glue onto it.

And there you go, all done! Easy peasy, you probably have everything in your house already, and it only took me about one episode of Bones to make them, so you have no excuse not to go find some bright spring-y colors and make your mom a trio of vases for Mother's Day! :) 

Questions or comments, let me know!

Craft #2-- String Easter Eggs

Just in time for Easter, this was pretty easy and you get to get nice and gooey and sticky! Here's my inspriration , you just click on the picture and it takes you on to the instructions on Crafty Endeavor.  Also, after I had already made the eggs, I found instructions for baskets! I may still make one :)  

Basic idea:  dip string into a glue/stiffener, wrap it around a balloon, let it dry, and pop the balloon out from underneath the dried string. 

So! you need some sort of string- embroidery thread, for example, or crochet thread, which is what I used. For a stiffener I used a watered down white glue (the same glue I used in the previous post to adhere the tissue paper!), but you can use liquid starch also. I chose glue simply because I'll have opportunities to use the rest of the bottle, and because I don't have any need to starch my tee-shirts. And then, of course, you need balloons-- water balloons are about right!
 I used about three yards for each balloon, but I probably could've used more. It was recommended in the instructions to coil your string into the glue mixture to avoid knots. I did that for the first couple balloons, and it did keep my string pretty tangle-free, but I discovered it was faster and easier to coil the string around my fingers before dealing with the glue at all-- your fingers get pretty sticky which makes it a lot harder to deal with dry string.

Once I had my balloons blown up, all my string coiled, and my glue to a slightly watered down consistency, but not super watery, I dunked a coil into the glue, squeezed out the excess and started wrapping it around the balloon.  Unfortunately, due to gluey fingers, I don't have any pictures of that part. You just wrap it all around.

 I made them in the evening and left them to dry overnight, then popped the balloons after I got home from class in the afternoon.  There was a bunch of glue remains left in between the strings, and I scraped some of it out with an open pair of scissors.

Once I had all my eggs, (I ended up with six- one balloon deflated before it dried, and one just wasn't strong enough) I strung them up the long way and hung them in the little space between the windows in our living room.  Perfect little decoration! Some  of them kinda look like pears though. Oh well! I like them!