Pine Needle Baskets
A friend in Florida makes absolutely gorgeous pine needle baskets. Here is the one she gave to me:
Isn't it gorgeous?! The pine needles in Florida are Jurassic-sized and are everywhere. A lot of of folks use them as mulch. So I picked up a handful to bring home and try to make my own basket. I watched a little bit when my friend was making them but didn't have much personal instruction and didn't try it while I was there, so I just kinda winged it.
First I poured boiling water on the needles and let them sit a couple of hours and then laid them out on a towel to dry a bit.
Then I just started making a spiral. The blue thing is a little piece of soda straw to keep the needle bundle a uniform size. My friend had a metal gauge but I didn't know where to get one so I improvised...Thank you Culver's!
I sewed it with some artificial sinew that I got at Michael's craft store. After the bottom was as big as I wanted it I started coiling up the sides. I only brought a few spills home so I decided to make a little change holder for my dresser.
When I got almost as tall as I wanted it to be, I added beads to one coil and then finished off the top by tapering the bundle size down to just a few needles and then back stitching Xs back around the top.
I'm pretty happy with it, especially since I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I have a useful, pretty reminder of our wonderful trip to Florida!
Isn't it gorgeous?! The pine needles in Florida are Jurassic-sized and are everywhere. A lot of of folks use them as mulch. So I picked up a handful to bring home and try to make my own basket. I watched a little bit when my friend was making them but didn't have much personal instruction and didn't try it while I was there, so I just kinda winged it.First I poured boiling water on the needles and let them sit a couple of hours and then laid them out on a towel to dry a bit.
Then I just started making a spiral. The blue thing is a little piece of soda straw to keep the needle bundle a uniform size. My friend had a metal gauge but I didn't know where to get one so I improvised...Thank you Culver's!
I sewed it with some artificial sinew that I got at Michael's craft store. After the bottom was as big as I wanted it I started coiling up the sides. I only brought a few spills home so I decided to make a little change holder for my dresser.
When I got almost as tall as I wanted it to be, I added beads to one coil and then finished off the top by tapering the bundle size down to just a few needles and then back stitching Xs back around the top.
I'm pretty happy with it, especially since I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I have a useful, pretty reminder of our wonderful trip to Florida!
Comments
Oh, and keep it on a high surface. Such beauty should not become a dog chew-toy.
Thanks for the funny joke in my comments!! My kids will get a kick out of it when I lay it on them at dinner tonight :-)
Also, thanks for the joke! I'll be telling that one for awhile! :)