Twine/Jute chair backs

I've received many compliments on my chair backs and thought I would do a tutorial on how I did it.

Here was my inspiration:

Source: bhg.com via Bridget on Pinterest

I loved this when I found it but could note find a tutorial on how they did it (I didn't look really hard either). It seemed pretty simple to do.

Supplies used:

The jute twine was purchased from Joann Fabrics (it's in the jewerly making section of the store). I bought 3 and have some left of the 3rd one.

The wood glue was something we already had.

Now, I'm not going to lie...I don't have very many pictures of the process on how I did this, but I am going to try really hard to explain it to you all!

Step 1:

Put glue on the underside of a slate at starting point (on end). Hold jute end to glue and wrap around. Have the jute overlap the starting end to hold into place.

This project can get a little messy has the glue gets all over you :)

Step 2:
Keep wrapping jute around chair slate pressing tightly agaisn't what you have already done and making sure you are tightly wrapping also.

Step 3:

Apply glue in random places as you go along. I would put glue on top about 1 inch in length and then wrap twine around. After I had the twine around and all the glue was covered, I would add about a 1 inch length of glue to the underside and keep repeating until I was finished.

*Need to give big props to my neighbor helper, Mason when starting the jute part of the chair...he was a great help to getting this project started*

Step 4:

At the end, I had noticed in some that I did that it wasn't coming across even. I would then have to adjust by moving the twine a bit (if the glue hadn't dried yet) or at the end if the bottom had a gap yet but the top was done, I would overlap.

As you can see, the very end has an 'overlap' of twine so that I fit it all. You can't tell far away at all.

Step 5:

After it's all done, I then cut the twine in the appropriate spot (to make it end under the slate or on the backside). I then put some glue on the end of the twine and pressed it into where it ended. Sometimes it ended underneath, sometimes it was on the backside. I made sure it never ended on top or in the front. I would hold it in place for a good minute to make sure it would stay.

In the picture above, it actually ends halfway up the backside.

Step 6:

Let it dry for a good 24 hours. Then enjoy!!!

To see the total table/chair transformation, click HERE

To see the upholstered chair tutorial, click HERE

And since I have leftover jute to use, here are some other inspirations I have from pinterest to use the jute on...

Source: teachcraftlove.blogspot.com via Bridget on Pinterest

Source: annabooshouse.blogspot.com via Bridget on Pinterest

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

Growing up, my mom loved to do canning. We had a garden and she loved to grow vegetables and then can them for future use. We would also make applesauce and can that. We always had loads of mason jars. Big, small, medium...every size you can think of.

As a kid, I never thought that a mason jar was cool. Now...I love them and can think of so many things I can do with them. I am not a caner...but I am a DIY crafter and mason jars come in very handy for that. If you remember on a previous post, I took mason jars and decorated into cute centerpieces.

Awhile back, I decided to make a mason jar into a soap dispenser. I pretty much had everything I needed for this project (only had to buy soap dispenser pump) so I knew this project would be cheap and easy.

First thing I did was drill a hole in the top of my lid. This was the hardest part of it. I am not the greatest with power tools, so this part was challenging because I kept having to drill to get the hole big enough for the soap pump to fit.

[Please excuse the rusty residue]

After I drilled a hole big enough, I then spray painted the top lid. It was gold. I had spray paint left over from when I took our gold chandelier to a nice bronze.

After the paint dried, I put all the pieces together. The hole should not be too big that the pump moves around a lot. Mine fits nice and snug and takes some twisting and turning to get out if need be (no need to ever take out...I just did for pictures). I had to cut the soap pump shorter to fit into the jar. I did that and then put it all together. I then had a cute soap dispenser. I love how it turned out. This is a very easy project that anyone can do you can do if you know how to use a power drill :)

Mason Jar = FREE (Mom gives me many for hot cocoa mix or other items...I love it)

Spray Paint = already had

Soap = already had (I have a huge jug to refill our soap dispenser in our bathrooms)

Soap pump = $4.99 (Bought actual soap from Home Goods because I liked the pump. I am not sure if they actually just sell pumps anywhere..so I bought a disposable soap dispenser and used that.)

Decorative Mason Jars

Besides all the craziness of wedding planning, I have also decided to tackle many house projects. We will be having people over at our house the day of the wedding and the day after...so I definitely needed to start decorating and changing things up from when we bought the house 2 years ago. My blog will not only be our personal memories and wedding planning...it will start to become a blog about projects that I take on. I have posted in the past about projects I have done...but nothing like what I have been up too lately. Let the fun begin :)

A fellow knottie bride and blog friend had made some super cute decorative mason jars for her wedding & home and I decided I had to have them also. I followed the tutorial she posted on her blog, Love Is...

The only thing I didn't do was wrap them in some burlap. I may in the future, but for right now...they are perfect the way they are in my home!

These seriously took no more than 10 minutes to make.

The super cute table runner was a wedding shower gift from my Grandma. She handmade it and I LOVE IT. For anyone that doesn't know...I am obsessed with Halloween. By far my favorite holiday...if it's considered one.

They are so cute and really go with the theme of my kitchen/dining area. Thank you Andrea for posting your tutorial.