twine bowl...may be decorated...may be spray-painted

...even though this twine bowl is pretty much fancy and stylish...you do not need any fancy ingredients and most probably you'll find everything you need at home.

it does take quite some time to finish this project...especially the drying process...it took me two days until the bowl to be ready for the spray-paint coat.

...the wrapping and gluing turned out to be bit of a mess...but it was still a lot of fun.

i am still not sure, if i prefer the plain twine bowl or the spray-painted bowl...and i guess it is just a matter of the occasion.

hopefully you'll enjoy the tutorial and of course the outcome, in case you choose to try it yourself.

this is what you need

- paper maché glue

   > ½ cup starch and 2 cups of cold water combined in a bowl

   > boil 2 cups of water in a sauce pan
   > add the starch and cold water mixture

   > bring to a boil again

   > remove from heat and add 3 tablespoons of sugar

   > let cool...the paste will thicken

- glass bowl

- cling film

- brush

- twine

- hairspray

- crochet needle

- thread

- needle

- spray paint

- scissors

this is what you have to do

- cover the outside of your bowl with cling film

- ensure the entire bowl is covered

- pour your paper maché glue into the smaller bowl

- apply glue with a brush onto the cling film covered bowl

- start wrapping the twine around the bowl, starting on the top of the bowl, which is actually the bottom, if you turn the bowl upside down

- keep on wrapping the bowl tightly

- keep on wrapping

- apply some glue on top of the twine, once in a while

 

- it might be easier for you to dip the twine into the bowl with the glue, instead

- the most dfficult part is the bottom of the bowl, ensure to cover the entire bottom otherwise it won't be able to stand alone and hold anything inside ( i learnt the hard way )

 

- cut the twine and hide the end somewhere on the inner side
 

- let the glue dry...it took me two days to have it dried completely

- turn the bowl aound

- carefully remove the twine bowl from the cling film covered bowl

- apply some hairspray all over the bowl

- and here we go...the very basic twine bowl

- you might want to spray-paint the bowl for a more shabby look

- or you might want to decorate the bowl...i used a simple twine crochet flower

- or you can add a flower and spray-paint...it is up to you

how to crochet a simple flower

my inspiration for the twine bowl will be found here

http://www.carolynshomework.com/2011/03/etceteras-yarn-bowl.html

elegant cupcake wrappers

....actually way too simple to post a how-to-do instruction...but i loved the pictures of every step and the results...so i decided to post the tutorial anyways.

as you might notice by the end of this post...i did not wrap any cupcakes...i did muffins instead...so this is basically about muffin wrappers...brownie muffins by the way...yummy...and i promise i will come back with the recipe soon.

this is what you need

- round paper doilies

- muffin paper cups

- scissors

- scotch tape

this is what you have to do

- cut into the outer lacy part of the paper doily

- trace along the edges of the doily

- cut the inner circle...

- ...to completely separate the inner circle from the outer lacy part

- spread out the outer circle of the doily

- wrap it around a  muffin paper cup to find the right length for the wrap

- the edges should slightly overlap

- make a clean cut

- you should be able to make three pieces per doily

- apply some tape on one side of the paper lace

- turn it into a ring and glue both ends together

- keep a muffin paper cup ready

- fit the muffin paper cup into the doily ring

- and here you go

- beautiful doily paper wrappers

i hope you enjoyed the tutorial and wish you a lot of fun doing some cupcake wrappers yourself...very best regards...silke