Category: Crafting

Over the past 18 months to two years, we’ve all gone a little bit crazy for crafting. Whether it be the thousands up and down the country carefully sewing face masks to keep the nation safe, or the dozens of dads installing brand new beer pumps in their sheds, we’ve all had hobbies and small interests to keep us occupied. 2021 has certainly been the year for arts and crafts. Or at least some…

Since April of 2020, there has been a huge rise in sales across various arts and crafts. It’s been widely reported, with the NPD Group revealing a 70% increase in arts and craft sales, whilst here at Rope Source, we’ve also welcomed a host of new customers looking to develop their crafting skills. 

But when it comes to the individual art and crafts, which have really shone throughout 2021? We crunched the numbers, analysing UK-based Google search-term data, to discover exactly that.

The most popular arts and craft activities in 2021

Based upon what people were searching over the last 12 months, it’s perhaps no surprise to see that painting tops the list when it comes to average searches per month. However, it doesn’t tell the full story.

Whilst painting is by far the most popular pastime when it comes to arts and crafts, with ‘painting’ welcoming almost 134,000 searches per month, that figure is actually less than the previous 12 months. During the height of lockdown in 2020, ‘painting’ welcomed on average 138,000 searches per month, with both ‘watercolour painting’ and ‘acrylic painting’ seeing around 14,000 searches per month, both of which have dropped in the last 12 months.

Of the five most popular search terms around the hobby of painting, the average total per month (216,000) far exceeds the second most popular arts and crafts hobby – ‘sketching’ – which notches 160,000 searches per month, and ‘sewing’ (134,000 searches per month). 

Interestingly, of the 15 search terms analysed across painting, sketching and sewing, it was only ‘diamond painting’, ‘paint by numbers’ and ‘sketchpad’ which saw an increase in searches compared to the previous year. 

The top arts and crafts of 2021

The winners and losers of arts and craft in 2021

The table above shows that only five of the 14 art and craft hobbies experienced an uplift in Google searches over the previous 12 months, with the top three all suffering after the lifting of restrictions in the UK. However, crocheting, which is the fourth most popular arts and crafts hobby of 2021 saw an 8% increase in searches. 

The ‘Tom Daley Effect’ has certainly played its part in the rise of crocheting. Between June and August, searches for ‘how to crochet’ jumped 12%, whilst ‘crochet’ searches increased by around 30% and ‘crochet pattern’ saw a whopping 60% increase. 

At the other end of the spectrum, ‘paper mache’ has seen the biggest drop in search volume. With children going back to school and more family activities available outside of the home, the messy activity saw a 38% drop in searches year-on-year, to an average of just 30,000 per month today. 

‘Photography’, rather surprisingly, has also seen a drop in interest over the last 12 months. Overall, the top five photography search terms have seen a 16% drop in searches, whilst there’s been almost a 30% drop in people searching for ‘photography courses’. 

The rise of macrame

Macrame turned out to be the biggest winner of the year. Over the past 12 months, searches for ‘macrame products’ and patterns have increased by over 20%, and over a five-year period, that increase lies at over 467%.

Search terms such as ‘how to macrame’ have jumped 66% in the last 12 months, with ‘macrame’ seeing a 446% increase across five months from a mere 6,500 searches per month back in 2016, to over 35,000 today. 

It was lockdown that saw the biggest jump in searches and people actively creating macrame products, however. During the shut-down period, searches jumped 90%, with many people looking to turn their hobby into a small business and raise some funds during the difficult period.

The UK’s top search increases

Over the past 12 months, there has been a large percentage increase in searches for more unusual crafts, with both ‘quilling’ and ‘calligraphy’ making a return to the public consciousness. 

Whilst search volume is relatively low at just 790 searches a month for ‘quilling tool’, it represents the largest increase year-on-year at 201%, and could see the paper-based craft follow in the footsteps of macrame over the next few years. Two quilling keywords feature in the top five when it comes to percentage increase, whilst ‘calligraphy letters’ jumped 106% over the past 12 months – from 14,590 searches per month to 30,170. 

The top 10 search increases

The UK’s top search decreases

When it comes to the arts and crafts people are starting to leave behind, it appears that aside from furniture, thanks to the Repair Shop, the upcycling phenomenon may be wearing off, with searches for ‘upcycling ideas’ dropping 42%, and ‘upcycling clothes’ plummeting a staggering 70% as retail stores open their doors once again.

Paper mache search terms are among the more common in the top 10 biggest drops in searches, with all five of the most common paper mache search terms featuring. 

The top 10 search decreases

Methodology

All data was collected using respected search tool ahrefs. Data was collected for 12-month periods dating back to September 2016 across the five highest volume searches across 14 of the most popular arts and crafts hobbies in 2021. A series of averages were then produced.

Resources:

Retailers are betting on the crafting boom to continue into 2021

https://ahrefs.com/

For those who like to beat the Christmas rush and get their gift list crossed off early, it’s now time to unleash your inner crafter and give some of these present wrapping ideas a whirl. Rather than sticking to your basic paper and ribbon, why not get creative and think outside the box this year? We hope you’ve got your scissors, glue and crafting supplies at the ready, because things are about to get fantastically festive. 

Eco-friendly ties

If you’ve already checked out our previous blog post on how to use rope for crafting, you’ll know that the options are endless. The rise of rustic wrapping means that you can never have enough natural twines in your crafting cupboard, serving as the perfect environmentally-friendly alternative to ribbon. Whether you’d like to keep things earthy with twisted jute, or you’re looking to experiment with a splash of colour by using our Christmas twines, we’ve got you covered for all of your gift wrapping needs. 

DIY Christmas stamps

Give your Christmas wrapping some extra pizzazz by crafting your very own DIY stamps, using a lint roller, craft foam, bakers twine, a skewer stick, scissors, an ink pad (in a colour of your choice) and gift paper. 

Start by cutting tree shapes (or any Christmas themed objects) out of your craft foam, using your skewer to punch a few holes in them for some extra texture. Next, take your bakers twine and assemble to create your Christmas scene, creating the impression of a hilly backdrop or pathway.

Once you’ve stuck everything to your roller, it’s time to get messy. Roll your DIY Christmas stamper in the ink pad, making sure it’s coated evenly. Roll onto your paper and let the ink dry, adding stickers or any other decorative pieces as a finishing touch if you wish. 

Natural decorations

Embrace your natural surroundings and team up with Mother Nature for this next Christmas wrapping idea. Once you’ve chosen your paper, decorative twine, and have used your DIY stamper to your heart’s content, select a few festive objects to secure on top. Here’s a touch of inspiration; you could use holly, fallen leaves, cinnamon sticks, or pine leaves to assemble a mini Christmas tree. 

DIY snowman box

To take your Christmas wrapping skills to the next level, we’ve taken inspiration from Kelly Dixon’s cardboard box snowman for this next one. This is perfect for when you’ve got boxes lying around the house that you want to repurpose, using them to stack and decorate with coloured card to craft a festive friend. Create a cosy scarf using ribbon, stick on decorative buttons and upcycle a cork to form a smoking pipe. 

Fabric gift wrapping

Another eco-friendly gift wrapping alternative is swapping out paper for funky fabric. Although it may look pretty, wrapping paper is created with dyes, often containing non-paper additives, such as decorative coloured shapes, glitter, and plastics. Unfortunately, none of these materials can be recycled. 

There are plenty of methods you can use to wrap a gift with fabric, and you can always refer back to YouTube for easy-to-follow tutorials to get you on your way. All you’ll need to do is secure everything in place with a knot, using additional twine if you wish, and remember to ask your gift receivers to save the fabric afterwards so that they too can get involved with a spot of upcycling.

If you’ve been inspired by these creative Christmas wrapping ideas, why not take a look at some of the stock we have on offer to get you started? From ropes to cords, we have everything you need to support your next big project. 

‘Tis the season to be spooky! And oh boy, have we got some brilliantly creative homemade craft ideas for you and the family? With a few basic items, you can make some ingenious little Halloween crafts. Take a look at these creepy creations.  

Spider webs

Why not create some spooky spider webs? This one is great for the kids. All you need is glue, lolly sticks, paint, coloured cotton string, and a little spider decoration. Three lolly sticks will do. Create a star shape and glue them in the middle; a hot glue gun works well and makes it super quick to dry. Then use a suitable paint (like tempura) to colour the lolly sticks whatever you like. When the paint has fully dried, grab your coloured cotton yarn, and tie a piece to one of the lolly sticks near the centre. Wrap it around the lolly sticks, doing a layer each time to create the web. Once you’ve reached the top, tie the yarn around the stick, and leave a tail for hanging the spider’s web. Adding a spider is optional! 

Broom treat bags

Perfect for little witches, these broom treat bags are so easy to make and will complete the magical look. Start by sending the little ones out to collect some sticks. This idea is also good for recycling, as all you need to do is use recycled paper bags; you’ll need two for each broom. To begin, simply grab some scissors, and cut one bag into narrow strips, stopping just above the base. With the second bag, start at the upper edge, and cut 1-to-2-inch-long narrow strips, and place it into the first bag. Fill it up with all the Halloween goodies. Gather the upper edges of the bags, fit in the branches, and then grab some jute craft twine to tie the top (tying about 1 to 2 inches from the top). 

Pumpkin hangers

Halloween isn’t Halloween without some pumpkins! But instead of leaving them dotted around on the floor or on a table, why not let them hang? With black coloured cotton macrame cord, you can create truly unique seasonal decorations. Follow this video tutorial for the step by step. 

Spooky spider egg wreath

Autumn and Halloween is the perfect time for a seasonal wreath, and you can be really creative with this one. This idea from Mike Garten uses styrofoam balls to create a spooky spider egg wreath. You can use twigs or twisted jute for the base. And then use a hot glue gun to stick on your spider decorations and other creepy items. Pick up some cobweb from your local pound shop, and add the final touches. 

Cardboard haunted house

How amazing is this?! We forget about the fantastic things we can make with all the cardboard we have lying around. And kids have brilliant imaginations. So gather those toilet roll tubes, boxes, lolly sticks, paint, and even some twines, for a fun arts and craft session with the kids. Here’s the how-to for the cardboard haunted house.

For all your crafting essentials, you’re in the right place. Contact Rope Source today for your requests!

Need a new hobby? Our macrame cord can help! We’ve cherry-picked the best macrame cord craft ideas from this extensive list of macrame projects for you to try your hand at. Get into the art of decorative knotting with a peaceful, creative pastime. Here’s what you can make.

Macrame jar hanger

If you don’t consider yourself the crafty type, these macrame jar hangers only take around five minutes to make each. Easy! Grab your cord, scissors, battery-operated fairy lights and get crafting. You can also use candles to put in the jars, just be more careful. Read the step-by-step tutorial right here at Decor Hint.

Macrame bag

Help the environment and ditch those plastic bags with a cute macrame bag – perfect for carrying groceries or trips to the beach. You’ll need your macrame cord, scissors, two gold jump rings and a needle and thread. Collective Gen will show you how to make this eco-friendly bag with an easy-to-follow guide. 

Pumpkin hanger

Make Halloween more boho with a macrame pumpkin hanger. Macrame doesn’t have to be plain white, oh no. Use our coloured cotton macrame cord to create some fun seasonal decorations, just like this. Follow this video tutorial to get crafty for Halloween!

Macrame coasters

Charm your guests with these boho coasters – a lovely look for a more rustic, quaint feel. Again, go for different colours to match your home’s colour palette, and follow this handy guide from Curly Made to freshen up your furniture.

Wall hanging

And finally, you can’t think of macrame without a beautiful wall hanging. You can even jazz them up with some bling or clip some polaroids to the cord for a macrame memory art piece. Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to make a macrame wall hanging to decorate your home artfully. 

For all your macrame supplies, you’re in the right place! Order your macrame cord, macrame twine, natural cotton string and much more right here. Contact us for any spool and size requests or for any more info. Happy crafting!

Whether you’re stuck inside on a rainy day or simply looking for ways to get creative, there are plenty of little arts and craft projects out there for you to occupy yourself with. Here at Rope Source, we look at how you can use rope for crafting to renovate your home, giving it a rustic look.

A sisal ottoman

Give your feet a rest with your own sisal ottoman. You choose the fabric, so it can be a beautiful custom-made furniture piece. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Sisal rope
• Plastic milk crate
• Glue
• Staple gun & staples
• Fabric
• Thick plywood
• Cushion foam
• Fabric Scissors
• Ribbon

Start by glueing one end of the sisal rope to the bottom corner of the crate, and continue wrapping the rope around the bottom of the crate. Glue every inch or so as you go, making sure to pull tight and hold in place to dry. Once you’ve covered the crate with the rope to the top, get your plywood. Cut it to fit perfectly inside the crate. 

Take the board out and trace it on the cushion foam, and cut out the cushion to set it on top of the wood. Then flip them both over on top of your fabric, and cut out the fabric to fit around, leaving about six inches on each side to fold around the cushion and board to staple down. Finally, staple down a loop of ribbon so you can easily pull it out, and place it in the crate for your comfy sisal ottoman! It’s also a great place to store books, blankets, toys and magazines.

A jute wreath for any occasion

Create beautifully crafted wreaths for spring, Easter, Christmas – whatever the occasion. All you need is some twisted jute rope, a wreath base (which can be just some simple cardboard ring), hot glue, and whatever you want to decorate it with! Grab your twisted jute, and wrap it around the cardboard ring, glueing down as you go. Once you’ve fully wrapped the wreath, add on a loop to hang it up. The final stage is to glue down all your decorations suited to the season or occasion. For Easter, you can glue down egg-shaped cards that you’ve painted, coloured or added glitter to, as well as little baby chicks, bunnies, and spring flowers. Come Christmas time, add holly, lots of sparkle, pine cones, and spray on fake snow. Also check out our Christmas twines to mix up the wreath base, and our luxury twine selection boxes for any occasion craft. 

For more inspiration, also see these amazing autumn wreaths from the bloggers who were roped in to get crafty!

Rope craft star

Whether you have a space theme in one of your kid’s bedrooms, or it’s Christmas time, or you want to update your decor with a therapeutic project, the rope craft star is perfect. All you need is some cardboard, scissors, a pen, a ruler, a glue gun with glue, and jute craft twine. 

Draw out your star on cardboard, drawing lines to connect the points inside. Cut out the star, and then cut out the individual star sections. For each section, make small cuts on the bottom edges so that the twine or rope won’t slip. On the top, glue the twine down and begin wrapping it around the section. 

Grab some different coloured twine to make a pattern around the sections. Once you’ve wrapped all your star sections, get a piece of card in the shape of a circle, and glue down all your star sections to form the star. Make a hole in the centre to feed through more twine, and wrap around each of the sections to make it secure. Once you’re happy, you’ve got your little masterpiece to stand up against any ornaments, or you can add a loop to hang it up. Watch the video here.

Twine-wrapped bottles

Have some spare bottles or jars lying around? Make cute centrepieces or ornaments with craft twines. They can be in neutral and natural or vibrant and bold colours, whatever suits your home’s decor. Lie the bottle or jar on its side, and begin wrapping your twine from the base, glueing down (with a hot glue gun) as you go. Once you’ve fully wrapped the bottles and glued all the twine down, you can either leave them as they are or glue down any decorative details. 

You’re in the perfect place for your crafting materials, we have it all at Rope Source. Browse through our extensive range on our website right here, or contact us to enquire or order.

Springtime is upon us. Flowers are sprouting, the air is getting ever so slightly warmer, and it’s the season that lightens up our moods. And rooms! It’s also a great season for crafting. Get inspired with our pick of spring and Easter crafts to keep you occupied with easily sourced materials, right here!

Floral spring wreath

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Start off the season with a beautiful, floral spring wreath on your door. You can use real or faux flowers for this, whatever your preference. It all starts with a wreath hoop or band. What works brilliantly for a DIY wreath is a twine base. Use sisal twine, natural jute twine, or this perfect luxury twine spring selection box to wrap around the hoop. From there, add your flower collection with a hot glue gun. To give it an Easter flair, add egg art, baby chick toys, Easter greetings, and decorative ribbon twine. 

Rope Easter basket

For this craft, you can use cotton braided rope, hemp rope, or for a thinner rope, you can even use a cotton clothes line. If you want a coloured rope basket, cotton is easier to dye. 

1. Cut around four yards (144 inches) of rope for the handle and set aside
2. For the basket bowl base, take your remaining rope and begin coiling it at the base by a few inches to form a tight spiral at the base
3. Stick a pin through the middle of the base to keep it in place
4. Start sewing the coil from the middle using a zig-zag stitch (a sewing machine will work wonders), sewing each coil layer to the next layer – you’ll see your flat, coiled base forming
5. Once you’ve reached your desired base width, begin building the sides of your basket by laying the rope on top of the outer ring of the coiled base and sew it down
6. When you’ve sewn one full ring of rope on top of the outer base, you can turn the base on its side to carry on sewing your rope coils
7. When you’ve reached your desired basket height, end the coil by backstitching a few stitches over the end of the rope so that the top of the basket is secure
8. Now for the handle. Grab your rope of around four yards (144 inches); fold and coil around 15 inches together and put a pin through both ends
9. Sew down the middle with a zig-zag stitch, so that you have two lines of the folded rope attached together, with a fold at one end
10. Use this length and continue to fold and coil the rope, sewing along the way to keep it flat and attached until you’ve used all of the rope
11. End the rope by backstitching again to make it secure
12. You will end up with a handle with an arched curve at both ends; stitch each end to each side of the top of your basket

Twine nest

Make a rustic-looking, nature-inspired egg nest for your home by using simple frayed twine. It doesn’t have to be a beige or natural jute twine either. With our jute craft twine, you can use a range of colours – aqua blue, gold, candy floss, chocolate brown, spring green, crimson, and so much more! 

Or use this handy assorted pack of coloured jute craft twine for your spring and Easter crafts.

How to make a twine nest:

1. Mix two tablespoons each of flour and water to a glue mixture in a bowl
2. Soak the twine in the mixture to soften
3. Begin shaping the wet twine into a coiled nest shape, and place in a plastic-lined, small bowl (roughly the same size as the nest)
   

4. Run the blade of some scissors against sections of some dry twine to create the frayed look
5. Stick the frayed twine sections to the nest using hot glue
6. After it’s set, fill your cute nest up with eggs!

Egg painting

We can’t forget about good, old-fashioned Easter egg painting! The creative limits are endless here, but let’s share some of our favourites. Whatever design you go for, make sure you use a table cover or newspapers to keep your surfaces clean. Have a variety of paint brushes, so you get the best outcome. Another tip is to use felt-tip marker pens for finishing touches and outlines, once the paint has set. 

Emoji eggs

Beautiful bunnies

Colourful and decorative

Unicorn eggs

Celebrate Easter and spring by getting crafty at home. For all your ropes, twines and crafting needs, Rope Source has got you covered! Contact us today for any help with craft materials.

Late last year, we decided to send some of our products to the arty and crafty blogging world to see what they could come up with. They didn’t disappoint.

Using our creative range of Luxury Twines Selection Boxes made for some amazing, seasonal and decorative creations. From autumnal feels to festive decorations, Rope Source proves as a perfect source for arts and crafts.

Autumn Crafting

We love what The Spoonie Mummy came up with, using our luxury twine. She opted for our Luxury Twines Selection Box Rustic as the colours were ideal for autumn, and we couldn’t agree more! Using our rustic twine, she was able to create a homemade autumnal wreath and mobile. The Natural twine made for a perfect base on the wreath along with Forest Green and Sisal twines to add texture and seasonal colours. Along with some autumn treasures picked up on walks, this autumn wreath and mobile adds decorative warmth to any home!

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Pine Cone Decorations

Our Luxury Twines Selection Box Christmas proved to be a great hit for this as tippytupps shows off her crafty skills by making some cute pine cone decorations, perfect for the Christmas tree and as handmade gifts for teachers, relatives and friends. The added touch of pom poms adds some colourful and warm festive cheer.

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Snow Globe Ornaments

Jupiter Hadley also opted for the Luxury Twines Selection Box Christmas to create some beautiful snow globe ornaments that look perfect on a tree or dotted around the house. Our Welsh Dragon and Sparkle twines in the selection have proved to be a great choice for festive decor. Adding some miniature Christmas crafts, clay and glitter, Jupiter has shown how simple and effective making festive decorations can be.

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For whatever crafts you’ve got coming up, be inspired and take a look at our Luxury Twines range where we have all sorts of colors and textures to suit.