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DIY Garden or Craft String Dispenser

If you are like me, you hate it when your twine or string jumps off it’s nice clean surface and finds the dirtiest corner to roll in when you are unraveling it in long lengths.  Or in the garden when you are tying up your vines it seems to always find the mud puddle to roll in.

So today I’m going to show you how I make my string dispensers that I can not dispense with or without *groan*

You will need:

A skein or ball of string or twine

A jar that your string fits into easily with a two part canning lid

mod podge or even white glue will work (not tacky glue)

a foam brush

a crop a dile big bite or other clean hole punching device (no burrs allowed)

a bit of fabric you love, a thin tip sharpie or other marker

a pair of fabric scissors

First trace the size of your canning lid insert onto the wrong side of your cloth and cut it out:

Generously coat your canning lid insert with your glue of choice:

And then place your circle of fabric over the canning lid insert and press it down with your gluey foam brush to get it all gluey and stuck.

The edges might be a bit of a challenge to get completely stuck down but, not to worry too much as the edges will be hidden by your canning jar ring in the end anyway.

let it dry for at least 30 minutes, and then punch your hole(s) in the fabric covered canning jar lid.  The key here is to not make your hole too much bigger than the string or it will always fall back down into the jar making it annoying to retrieve it every time.  For bakers twine I use a 1/8″ hole and for jute I use a 3/16″ hole.

String your thread through from the bottom of the canning jar insert

insert your string into the jar, place the insert on and tighten the ring… VOILA!

now you can get really creative!  use all kinds of different jar sizes and amounts of different string.  in one I have 4 different colors of twine wrapped around clothespins and 4 holes on the top … looks adorable, uses up the canning jar lid inserts you can’t reuse and is fun to make.

Thanks for reading!

If you would prefer to purchase instead of buying all the materials please contact me through either of my etsy shops noJOisaverage or 42things or through my Facebook Fanpage.

Etsy Newbie???

 

There’s so much info on the forums, and in the etsy help section, the tous, the dos and don’ts, the seller handbook.  please please read them!

that’s all the advice you will need to start

 

THEN!  if you are still feeling like you need something more specific there are a ton of critique teams.

 

I KNOW you are proud of your shop, and you should be.  I’m sure that what you make is awesome.

 

The problem is when you ask for help but really just need encouragement.

 

go ahead and start your topic honestly, not just to get views, you will have much more success with getting help if you are honest with yourself and with the community.

 

“I need encouragement!  i want this to work and feel like there’s way too much to do and I can’t master it all and I don’t even know if my product is worthy”

 

which is basically what it all amounts to.

 

you really need to find a team, a group of close knit people that will help you along and push you.

and eventually the tables will turn and you will be encouraging and helping them.  MAKE SURE YOU RETURN THE FAVOR!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Meme Fun for all my Etsy followers

my point is… if you are not selling, there’s something you have to do… there’s a LOT of work involved in selling online… and etsy is EASY compared to having your own website.

TAKE THE ADVICE about tags, titles, pictures, SEO, marketing and descriptions.

REALLY TAKE IT!

did you take it yet?  or did you “yeah, but” your way through a whole thread of advice?

TAKE THE ADVICE about online marketing and finding your niche.

if you think you’ve taken the advice?  and you’re still not selling?  well then start listing a LOT MORE of your awesomely photographed, SEO friendly, tagged and titled with keyword phrase homewoven handicrafts.  it’s only $5 to list an entire page of goods.(20 cents per listing)

it takes about a solid MONTH of listing regularly [every day 3-5 items or  what I did, since I have such a low price point item, was decide what $$ amount I would like to sell each day ... and list double yes i did this for a whole month] continual keyword phrase research, retagging, tweaking and other nasty, annoying, tedious jobs.

did you really give it your full month?  are you seeing things pick up?  no?

go back over all the advice and REALLY look at it, did you do it, or just half do it?  did you shrug it off because “that’s not how you do things”?  did you just not want to do it? did you not have time to do it?  be honest.  only you can hear your answers.

well now you need to decide.  you gonna do it?  or be happy with not selling?

K, there ARE occasions where you really have done everything, and you’re still not selling.  Perhaps your target market is too narrow so you have to rethink your product.

yes, sometimes, we have to face it, the product is not wanted by shoppers.  that’s who we’re trying to sell to… the shoppers on etsy, the shoppers we bring there and the ones that others bring there and the ones that find it on their own.  THAT’s why it’s important, if you WANT to sell well on etsy, to fit into their aesthetic.  If you are bringing your entire offline, or offsite target market with you??? YAY!  ignore me and my paltry sales and what I did to get there

Homemade Pizza for Supper

Just to make you drool… it looks so good, can’t wait to dig in.

 

Earrings Giveaway!

My friends Holly and Kat are conspiring to give away a pair of earrings that Holly made via Kat’s blog.

 

 

I have a pair of earrings from Holly and I bought a pair as a gift for my MIL and both pairs are gorgeous!

 

 

Now’s your chance to win your own pair!

 

 

 

Click any of the above pictures to take you to the giveaway blog post.

 

Thanks!

Addicted to making Tote Bags

I’ve made 4 since yesterday afternoon… I won’t show you the first one I made, lets just say, good concept, horrible embarrassing execution.

 

These are all made from upholstery samples and previously owned bed linens (better than used sheet, right?)

 

in order to make one of the panels large enough for this third one I had to piece it together…

 

turned out wonderful.

 

for those of you wondering, no, I have never had sewing lessons and I don’t know how to use patterns.  everything I’ve ever sewn has come out of my head.

 

 

Hurtin’ Albertan meets the Windy City – Chicago

The folks took us to see “the Bean” in Chicago.  At first walking up to it I was thinking, “Why does this exist?”  but then it was SO mesmerizing we could hardly tear ourselves away!

This was an interesting fountain, that wasn’t running at the moment… but the faces change every few minutes.

Tons of amazing old architecture with stonework.

and, really high skyscrapers with long long long fire escapes

Of course while there we HAD to have deep dish pizza at Gino’s in old town, even if it meant standing in the cold for 45 min to get in.  We left our marks.

And a couple of ducks.

What would a visit to Chicago be without a picture of the skyline.

Fantastic Antique Kitchen Items – Rustic to the Max

Well, I don’t know what to say… My parents find all sorts of amazing things.

 

Our New Family Member – meet Sparrow

he’s helping me take pictures, this is my little spot I have set up to take product shots for the winter.