Rope Tie Backs

I wanted something just a little different.  I've loved my curtains, but I wanted something a little lighter, something a little more "beachy" so I went shopping.  Ikea.  I bought 4 panels for $50 total (when you can spend that much on one panel alone)!

The curtains came with tiebacks, but I wanted something a little better.   I liked the idea of rope tie backs; they have that beach feel to them and are just cute.  I searched the Internet and came across one that I liked the most:

This one gave me some good tips as well so I pinned it too.

I found the jute rope at Michaels & using a coupon I got it for like $3 or something cheap like that.

  

In the tutorial above, they bought one of the jute ropes for each panel, but I'm cheap and didn't want to spend more money than necessary.

Then I went to Wal-Mart and found the twine:

and hemp:

I also bought some clear Command hooks to use.  

These would be strong enough, but small enough and clear so they wouldn't be too noticeable.

Now the "how to":

1:  I measured my jute rope into 4 equal sized pieces (about 22").  I put electrical tape over the soon-to-be ends so they wouldn't fray.

 2:  I cut the jute rope

 3:  Next, using the hemp (you could use thick twine as well), I cut 8 pieces about 5 inches long or so.  I wanted to do mine a little different than the one I saw.  She made one large loop.  I decided if I ever wanted to switch out the hemp (or twine) for metal loops, this would make it possible.

4: Again, using more electrical tape, I taped them down, leaving just a small loop on the end

5:  Using the thick twine or rope & using a hot glue gun I started gluing about 2 inches from the ends.  I overlapped the end of the twine I was wrapping so you couldn't see it.  Then, I just kept wrapping until I got to the end of the jute rope.  It took a decent amount of patience and glue, but I think they turned out alright.

6: Now I took longer pieces of the hemp (i think these are about 6" or so) and looped it through that original small loop, then hot glued the ends together.

And there you have it!  I love how they turned out. They give the curtains just that much more character/charm.

So, there's to one more "beachy" thing in my mountain home.  Living in the Rockies, I'm doing my best to bring the beach to me.

Happy crafting!

Total Time: 1 hour

Total Cost (not including curtains): $25ish