My Twine Storage Solution

I should promise that no twine was harmed in the making of this blog post but that would be a big ole lie - there were some minor skirmishes but organization prevailed!

 Have I mentioned that I heart baker's twine? It has been finding its way into my projects more and more, but I have to admit - that stuff can be a PITA to get it unrolled when it is actually time to use it, especially since I only have it in smaller lengths (a sampler pack from The Twinery and one of Divine Twine....well, at least that's what I have right now). Anyway I needed a way to turn this mess.....

into something more manageable. (you should know - this is what happens when the 18 month old decides to "help" mommy). And what I came up with was a design for a thread bobbin that turned that mess into this...

And now all of my twine can be stored on a ring within reach on my pegboard or on the end of my Making Memories cabinet (haven't made up my mind yet). I was going to store them in a box except that enabler Caroline (from Caroline's Craftography) showed me some ribbon storage that made me remember I had binder rings. (Edited to add:) You can find the binder rings in the school supply section at Walmart or an office supply store like Staples - I happened to have some in with my school stuff.

The details:
The process was really very simple - I used three rectangles from George welded together and then cut from kraft cardstock - and I cut two for each thread bobbin and adhered them together to make the bobbin nice and sturdy for the twine. The final bobbin is just over 4 inches high and about 3 inches wide.

I was able to lay out 6 of the design one the mat to be cut out of one 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper - which in the end would give me 3 total bobbins (assuming I put the paper on the mat correctly - can you guess why I said that??). Then I simply added a little slit at the top with a razor and wrote the brand and color name. A hole punch in the bottom and a large binder ring, and the bobbin was done ready for winding!

It really was a painless process and now I can look at all my pretty colors of twine and admire them on a daily basis. But how about a little giveaway?? I have a bobbin of Halloween Baker's Twine from Trendy Twine that I would love to give to one of my followers. I also heart Halloween so I will admit I splurged and bought the whole spool.

How much is on there? No idea - I would guess about 7-10 yards - enough to add that special something to your Halloween projects. Just leave me a comment and I will pick a winner on Friday, July 8th.   As always if you would like the Gypsy file for the bobbin just shoot me an email and I will send it to you.