Trend Watch | Baker's Twine

I've been scrapbooking long enough (and I'm sure that many of you have, too) to remember a time when "fibers" were all the rage. Whether brightly colored or muted, sleek or fuzzy, thick or thin, fibers could be found in almost any color and made with nearly any material imaginable. The fiber craze eventually gave way to the sleeker, more elegant ribbon trend, but recently a more sophisticated type of "fiber" has emerged as a new scrapbooking must-have: baker's twine.

Baker's twine can be purchased in massive spools (that are literally measured by the pound rather than by length) at baking and restaurant supply stores, but many scrapbooking and crafts manufacturers are producing this new staple product in both smaller quantities and a larger selection of colors to cater to those who need a bit more variety (and a smaller size) than, say a 10 pound spool of nothing but red and white twisted cotton string.

Some stores such as The Twinery have popped up in the last year or so and offer baker's twine as either their only product or their main product. Twine from The Twinery is available in fourteen different colors with new additions occasionally being made (Stone, Buttercream, and Denim are the most recent new colors to join the lineup). Consumers have the option to buy The Twinery's twine in either large 240 yard single-color spools or in a smaller sampler pack that includes all of the company's colors in less expensive (and easier to store) 15 yard skeins.

Divine Twine is another all twine, all the time seller with a selection of twelve different colors. They carry both the traditional color/white twist variety of twine as well as a specialty "Air Mail" spool with a red, white, and blue color scheme. Divine Twine is only available in large 240 yard spools from their online store, though a search on Etsy turned up several sellers offering the colored strings in shorter length variety packs. 

Recently scrapbooking and crafts manufacturers have been getting in on the twine trend, marketing baker's twine in smaller quantities and larger color ranges than what's typically available at most baking supply stores. Martha Stewart Crafts has been offering twine in holiday assortments (Halloween, Christmas, etc.) for several years now and recently released a new line of single-color spools in longer lengths.

Doodlebug introduced their own version of baker's twine, Doodle Twine, at CHA Summer 2011. Doodle Twine is available on 20 yard spools in all of the colors found in the company's signature palette. Doodlebug's twine is extra-colorful thanks to the two strands of color they include for every white strand (instead of the standard 1:1 ratio). Doodlebug also offers Halloween and Christmas twine with multicolor twists, along with an assortment of twine cards designed to match specific color sets (such as primary colors) and paper lines.

Doodlebug has also meshed the baker's twine motif with their popular alphabets to create Doodle Twine alphabet stickers, which, like Doodle Twine, are available in all the colors in Doodlebug's standard palette.

The saturated colors of Doodlebug's twine pair well with not only their own papers, but also with other bright paper lines such as Bella Blvd's Too Cute to Spook and Christmas Wishes. The colors of the twine aren't washed out by the bold papers thanks to the boost provided by the extra colored strand.

Supplies | Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd Too Cute To Spook (Quadrants, Cute Cuts). Stickers: Bella Blvd Too Cute To Spook (Alpha + Bits, Miniatures). Twine: Doodlebug (Halloween). Rhinestones: Doodlebug.

Supplies | Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd Christmas Wishes (Star Stripe). Stickers: Bella Blvd Christmas Wishes (Just Write, Miniatures). Twine: Doodlebug (Christmas). Rhinestones: Doodlebug.

We R Memory Keepers offers a variety of baker's twines in their Sew Easy Fancy Floss line:

Though these twines are designed to work with the company's Sew Easy tool (look for a review of this tool coming soon to Scrapbook Update!), they work just as well on their own as regular twine.

Supplies | Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers Spookville (Spooky Spots, Trick or Treat). Brads: We R Memory Keepers Spookville (Glitter Brads). Stickers: We R Memory Keepers Spookville (Embossed Cardstock). Twine: We R Memory Keepers (Tertiary).

Supplies | Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers Autumn Splendor (Hazel, Willow). Brad: We R Memory Keepers Autumn Splendor (Glitter Brads). Chipboard: We R Memory Keepers Autumn Splendor (Layered Chipboard Tags). Twine: We R Memory Keepers (Neutrals)

Jillibean Soup offers baker's twine in a variety of color sets (Turquoise/Green, Pink/Purple, Yellow/Orange, Red/Black, and Blue/Green) that will coordinate easily with both their older and current releases.

Jillibean Soup's baker's twine has a thinner composition and a more "slick" finish than standard cotton baker's twine, a property I found to be very useful when stitching with the string.

Supplies | Patterned Paper: Sassafras (Sweetly Smitten 6x6 Pad). Cardstock: The Paper Company. Twine: Jillibean Soup (Pink/Purple). Chipboard: KI Memories (Friendship Chip Accents).

Supplies | Patterned Paper: Sassafras (Sweetly Smitten 6x6 Pad). Cardstock: The Paper Company. Twine: Jillibean Soup (Turquoise/Green). Buttons, Dies: (Papertrey Ink).

While some scrapbooking manufacturers are marketing their baker's twine as standalone items, others such as My Mind's Eye have released their twines as part of a specific paper line's embellishment package. When My Mind's Eye released their mid-season Lime Twist collection, they also debuted no fewer than twelve shades of coordinating baker's twine, available on 20 yard cards.

Pink Paislee introduced its own version of baker's twine at the CHA Winter 2011 show. Both of the House of 3 branded lines, Soiree and Daily Junque, feature twine in a variety of trendy color combinations, many of which ditch the standard white/color twist in favor of the color/color variety.

Teresa Collins has included a coordinating shade of bakers twine in the trim packs for all three of her new lines: Christmas Home, Haunted Hallows, and World Traveler.

Crate Paper has also jumped on the twine bandwagon. All three of their new CHA Summer 2011 releases - Farmhouse, Random, and Peppermint - sport bakers twine on their trim cards.

October Afternoon includes a generous amount of coordinating baker's twine in each of the Wrap Packs from their three newest lines: Sasparilla, Sidewalks, and Farmhouse.

Digital Scrapbookers are getting in on the twine trend, as well! Splendid Fiins (found at JessicaSprague.com) has not one but three element sets (Baker's Twine Photo Mega Pack, Baker's Twine Cards, and Baker's Twine) featuring nothing but baker's twine inspired embellishments!

Many digital scrapbooking kits now also include a baker's twine embellishment or two in the mix. Jen Allyson's Vanity Fair collections (Persimmon and Cerulean pictured below) include colorful twists of baker's twine in their embellishment packs.

Baker's twine is a subtle, inexpensive, and readily available option for scrapbookers who want to add just a hint of color pop to their projects. Next time you're shopping for supplies, consider adding a few shades of this staple embellishment to your basket - but be careful! Baker's twine can be habit forming, if my own collection is anything to go by!