Monday, October 22, 2012

Coastal Decor, A Coir Twine Beach Lantern



Top of the morning to you Beach Dwellers. 

Ready for some coastal craft, Beach House style? Well you have come to the right place.  It's a little skew whiff, but I have to say, I kinda like it.   You may know how much I love to make beach lanterns. I love nothing more than to dot them around the deck on a hot Summer night glowing away, as we sit around in the balmy evening enjoying each others' company and sipping on something cool.   The more the merrier. I like it that the candles don't blow out in the sea breeze, which often whips up in the early evenings around these parts.  And am always up for new ways to make my lanterns look vintage and beachy.   I've stuck doilies and shells to them in the past and now I am tying coir twine around them.  This is basically macramé 101. I discovered the ease with which it comes together recently, when we used it to make aboriginal dilly bags at school with the kids.  I used to front up to class most Mondays last term, to help 28 kids tie string to sticks and make these cute little bags, which were big enough to carry a sweet potato.  I don't know that the aborigines ever had sweet potatoes  in them in their original state, but anyway I found the tying of string very therapeutic.  I was toying with the idea of going big on a dilly bag to make a beach bag, but decided to start small and see how this turned out first.




I think I could now go a beach bag, but would need loads more coir twine.  My first attempt at this was a complete cock up, as I cut my twine too short.  Thankfully the girls over at instagram came up with some great tips to make it work.  Thanks you to Rachel at  Hip Brown Things, who said to make the twine length 3 times the length of the jar.  I made it even bigger at 110cm.


So once you have six lengths, Double them over in half and place the loop at the back of the string collar you intend to tie around the top of the jar. Space them about 2cm/1 inch apart evenly around the jar (I used the biggest vegemite jar)


Put the ends through the loop and pull tight


Once you have your six lengths in place, tightly tie the collar around the top of the jar and grab 2 separate lengths as shown above and make a double knot.  Moving around your jar, repeat this pattern until you reach the bottom of the jar, using a similar tension for each knot, so it is as even as possible.


Pull the twine down tight as it tends to ride up.  Turn your jar over. Take some similar coloured cotton and a needle and hitch up all the knots around the bottom, in a circular motion.  Tie it off tightly around the bottom of the jar.  The knots at the bottom should pull under the jar making it sit level when it is upright. 


I then got out my sand stash and poured a little into the jar


Popped a tea light onto the sand


and there you have a rustic little beach votive, several of which would look fabulous down the centre of a beachy table, or on its own styled up with some other coastal characters.


So there you have it another little bit of coastal craft to add a pop of beach to your home.  If you would like to check out my other coastal craft and styling ideas, go here.


Have a fabulous week
Today I am linked up here

23 comments :

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Very cute! I will have to give that a try, Carolyn. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I love this project! These jars would be so perfect at a summer beach picnic--I am just not sure I would have the patience to do them as I am a complete failure at crochet and knitting... But I will try anything once! : )

    xx Cat

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  4. Your jar turned out lovely Carolyn and I think scewiff is great because slight imperfections add oodles of charm & character. Totaaly looking forward to seeing your bag tutorial soon :-). Thanks for the shout out, bless! Have a lovely day! Rach x

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  5. I love it Carolyn but I literally can't follow instructions ;O)
    Tania xx

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  6. a nice idea! something i'd like to try. i'm with you on instructions tania.
    x

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  7. Love it, love it, love it! I NEED to do this ASAP. Would these make great neighbor gifts at Christmas, or what? So cute ... and love the idea of adding beachy elements to my house. I'm too far away from the beach; I need to bring some of it to me! GREAT POST! xoxo jules

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  8. What a great idea. I need to try this, it would be fabulous on the big bottle too. Thanks for joining TTT. Hugs, marty

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  9. Those would fit in right at home at my place. I love a good therapeutic project! Thanks for the tutorial!
    Liz

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  10. Great idea! Looks really beautiful!

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  11. Cute, I love it. I am going to have to make a few of these. I made a fishing net (for a sunday school lesson) using the same method of tying so I think I could do this too. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. This is neat. Thanks for sharing the tutorial. I will have to try this.....although I warn you....I'm not good with knitting/tieing things into shapes but I would really love to try this since I love beach decor.

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  13. NICE! I think I might try this with jute!! So excited about the creative, natural look it gives an average jar!

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  14. This is very beachy and unique.

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  15. So simple but just stunning! I'm pinning this so I can do it once our Summer rolls around again! :)

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  16. Hi Carolyn,
    I still want to try this but I did make your Tuna and Danish Fetta Pasta thingamajiggett dish last night......YUM!!!
    Tania xx

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    1. Ah Tania that makes me very happy. Glad you liked it. So easy yes?
      Carolyn

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  17. I really like this idea...I'm going to give it a go with a vase I have....wish me luck!
    Allison x

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  18. This is so fun and pretty! Great idea. Visiting from Craft-O-Maniac :)

    Hugs,
    Stephanie
    www.theenchantingrose.blogspot.com

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  19. I love this and have always wanted to cover something in this... thank you for showing me how!!!

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