These are actually more simple than they look!
One of my and Carter's favorite things is finding new projects to work on together. We've done wood carving, designed Christmas ornaments, painted with Bob Ross, and lately we've gotten into pine needle basket weaving! How did we get into this unlikely hobby? We came across the tutorial on YouTube and were immediately intrigued. This
Making coiled pine needle baskets is an essential survival skill as well as an art form. Here are 10 tips to make your baskets better.
You can make a startling number of things with items you find outside! Here's how to make a pine needle basket that's both beautiful and utilitarian.
Making coiled pine needle baskets is an essential survival skill as well as an art form. Here are 10 tips to make your baskets better.
Pine Needle Baskets for Fun &...Isn't Fun Enough?: Pine needle basketry is a craft that is either relaxing or stress-making, depending on how you do it. With materials provided by Mother Nature, you can create beautiful projects that can enhance your décor, become cherished gifts, or make an interes…
Basket making supplies I love the outdoors and all it has to offer. I love going on leisurely walks, collecting seeds, pinecones, and leaves; so, when I want to unwind and also be productive, I collect pine needles for selling. I could sell them as is, off the ground or off a fallen tree, but I like to clean and preserve them. This way, the pine needles are ready for whatever project awaits them! ***** The first thing I do once I've collected a good amount of pine needles, is to wash them. I like to get as much dirt and pine sap off as possible. I wash them in warm to hot water with a simple dish detergent. I usually use Dawn Dish Detergent. This is approximately 1 pound of needles. I completely immerse the pine needles in the soapy water. I like to get the pine needles nice and clean, so I actually wash them with a wash cloth. I pick a few up at a time by the sheath end, and gently wipe them to the tips. The water gets fairly dirty, so I usually start with clean water for each batch of pine needles. After I wash them, I rinse the pine needles well, making sure to get all the soap off. Most times it takes two rinses before putting them out to dry. You can see even after they've been washed and rinsed well, there is still a small amount of dirt and particles in the rinse water. I spread the pine needles out on a towel to dry. I don't put them back out in the sun, because that tends to make them brittle, and they begin to twist. During our rainy season, we get these naturally mottled pine needles. I think these are beautiful; so I was going out after each little afternoon storm, or windy period to get as many of them as I could. I know that mottled foliage usually means there's a plant/tree illness or disease; but once these they are washed and dried, we get these stunning preserved needles!
I Doing Pine Needle Basketry is a really great opportunity to slow down and stay in the moment with your own breath. It is a meditation in itself. When you have yourself settled down this way, you don't project your mental state into the future and instead take great care and interest in each stitch. The old saying that a stitch in time saves nine is so true. I started work on a Pine Needle Basket today and I think you can see from the very beginnings of this basket that there is a certain relaxed contentment in it. This is the thing about making Pine Needle Baskets, we learn by our mistakes and what works for us and what doesn't. Being adaptable and creative can be so much more than just doing a stitch and liking how it looks. Everything about the art form from picking the needles up off the ground, washing and drying them, baking them in glycerin or dyeing them has an energy of love which we infuse with every step into the process of each basket. Art is a process and cultivating the resiliency to be in constant awe and creative adaptability goes a long way towards the overall look of any given basket. It is best to just chalk up any set backs as " experience" and move lovingly forward to the next step in the process. Next time you process some needles try something new or wait for a warmer day. Sometimes this is why baskets can take a long time, because we wait for the perfect moment to do things. This doesn't always come easy. I always want to push things through with my mojo but as I grow older I start to see a wonderful rhythm and energy to the ups and downs or trials of making a basket. I have tasted the hidden honey of the lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus, I am blessed. Let this be my parting word. - Rabindranath Tagore
Creating pine needle baskets
Finally, another guest post! This tutorial is courtesy of the best grandmother on the planet, Sharon Woods. She splits her time between our homeland of Washington, and California. She made these in…
Interested in basket weaving? The materials you need may be growing in your own backyard! Here are 15 natural materials to forage for basket making.
I began making pine needle baskets with the simple statement "I could never do that". Hundreds of pine needle baskets later my simple statement has now become "I could never go long without making baskets." Its true - so much of my every day life...
Pyrography Base pine needle baskets
