Liberate a roll of humble cotton string from your pantry to make our two sweet projects.

Wrapped jars

Hold flowers, pencils, coins and more in these attractive containers. They make great gifts, too. Start with a clean jar or bottle. Glue about 1/4 inch of the end of a ball of butcher’s twine to the side of the jar. Wind the string around the jar, cut the string, and glue the end to the jar. Decorate the twine with acrylic paint (kids can paint freehand or use stamps), or for a faded, ombre effect, layer on coats of watercolor.

Fuzzy the stringman

Our twine snowman will keep smiling long after the snow melts. Make the three sections of the stringman’s body by crumpling one, two and three pieces of white paper into tight balls. Wrap each with string, tucking in the ends with a bit of glue. Insert one end of a toothpick into the largest ball, then slide the medium ball over the other end. Do the same with a second toothpick and the smallest ball. Tuck twig arms into the string and glue on paper features, as shown. Display the stringman on a jar lid.

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Credit: Jack Tuszynski/PhotoJack.net

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Credit: Reed Williams/AJC