Thursday, April 14, 2016

Using Sharpies to make bakers twine

It's the second Thursday in April, and time for a post dedicated to a tutorial.   It's also Day 14 of 22 days of recycling, repurposing, or rethinking a project.

My supplies are:

Sharpies, because I already had them
Index cards I found while going through a drawer in my office
Embroidery thread that was given to me

I knew I would never use the thread under normal circumstances, so instead of letting it go to waste in my craft room, I decided to put it to good use.  Since I had already purchased and paid for the Sharpies several years ago, I thought it was time I put them to good use again.  After all, craft supplies that "go bad" are a waste of money, and that always makes me sad.

The first thing I did was cut two slits at opposite ends of the index cards. I then wound the thread around the cards.  This took forever, but it was worth it.

I took one Sharpie and drew lines along the length of the wrapped thread, as shown above.  I turned the card over and repeated the process.

The next color I used was red.

I did the same with orange, drawing vertical lines on both sides of the card.

Next came green, but I don't think you need to be reminded again.  After all, it's very tedious, yet boring work.  I found that if I held onto the thread as I was drawing a line, I got a better line.  If I didn't, the line seemed to meander off course.

Although I had a few colors I didn't use, I was out of index cards and didn't want to cut old file folders and wrap more thread.  I had already spent nearly five hours doing this.  Like I said, tedious and boring.

After I finished the lines, I was mortified to think the ink had bled through to the back.   Upon closer inspection, I realized

I was looking at ink from the opposite side.  Although it had bled through the index card, it didn't affect the thread on the opposite side of the card.  The good news was, the Sharpies penetrated both sides of the thread, so no matter which way the twine was twisted, the color would still be the same.  

Now this tutorial has gone live you will find it on my Tutorials page under Making bakers twine using Sharpies.

For Day 14 of 22, I repurposed some embroidery thread I will never use for its intended purpose, and turned it into bakers twine, a product I have found to be either inexpensive and inferior in quality, or rather expensive but made with quality twine.

Thank you for your visit and if you decide to make some bakers twine from my tutorial, please let me know and I will feature it and you on my blog.


13 thoughtful remarks:

Neet said...

What a brilliant idea! Elizabeth, you have some great tutes tucked away and this is one of my favourites now. I won't be buying the twine any more as I can make whatever colour I want now thanks to you.
Remember to give Bleubeard a tickle and a love from me.
Hugs, Neet xx

voodoo vixen said...

You always amaze me with your recycle efforts and this is a really useful one, I have never bought the coloured twine and now I don't think I ever will as when I need it I can just make some!! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Always a new cool exploration into using products in different ways, Bravo again my friend. xox

My name is Erika. said...

This is one amazing idea. No really- the kind of idea I give the kid a 100+ for. Excellent! I can tell you have a very sciencey/engineering type of brain because you always manage to come up with these cool ideas. That one could be written up for a magazine for sure. Hugs-Erika

froebelsternchen said...

What a useful tutorial Elizabteh - I believe you that it was boring to do - but worth it for sure!

I pinned it to my "Save your money /alternative Art Materials" board on Pinterest.... great !
Thank you!
oxo Susi

Valerie-Jael said...

What a great idea, this is a real money saver. Hugs, Valerie

Denise Price said...

Great idea!!! I can't wait to see you use your twine in your art.

Linda Kunsman said...

this is absolutely brilliant Elizabeth!!! I will def. remember and use this as my Baker's twine stash is limited:):)

Meggymay said...

Another great idea, I have string somewhere, so will keep this idea to mind.
Yvonne xx

Sandra Cox said...

What fun! I wouldn't have thought of that one.

Jeanie said...

You know, I hardly ever use baking twine! But I love this -- it would work for ribbon, too.

I have been playing with the Sharpies/alcohol/scarves and will do a longer post on it in May after our make-and-take tea but am going to show a few of the examples in one photo in my next post. I'll link back to your page for the tutorial! It's way too much fun!

sheila 77 said...

Gosh yes, Elizabeth, why would we buy bakers' twine after seeing this. Thanks!

Dianne said...

A brilliant idea...why have I never thought of this? they want a ridiculous amount of money in the store for a tiny bit of red and white twine! I've got to try this.... ;)