Seeking Sole Mates - Lost Sock Holder

This awesome idea is all over the internet right now.  One of the versions I liked best was from the de Jong Dream House.  This is the link to their Seeking Sole Mates Missing Sock Holder.

This is my version:

To make it, I bought a board at Lowes and asked the wonderful people there to cut off a two foot section for me.  Other than that, I just used some acrylic paint I already had (lavender and white), 7 wooden clothespins, tacky glue, duct tape, a ballpoint pen, paintbrush, and some yarn.  The total cost was only about $5 since I had most of the materials already around the house.

First I painted the board lavender (just the front and the edges), and while it was drying I played around with different fonts on my computer.  I just set my page settings to landscape and made sure that the text was large enough to span two pages.  The font I finally settled on was Mona Lisa Solid ITC TT.

After printing the pages, I laid them on top of my board and traced over the letters with a ballpoint pen.  I was writing on the paper (not the board), but by pressing down hard I left an indention on the board that I could fill in with some white paint and a small paintbrush.  I also painted my clothespins white.

I braided the yarn to make it a little chunkier, stretched it across the front of my board, and glued it to the back using tacky glue.  Then I put a piece of duct tape over the string in the back just for good measure (and to make sure the yarn doesn't snag on anything when I hang it on the wall.

The braided yarn has a little more stretch than other materials you could use (like a thin rope, twine, or wire).  So, when I started pinning socks to my board, the clothespins would flip down and the yarn would sag.  I didn't like that, but a dab of tacky glue between each clothespin solved the problem.

Now I just have to decide where to hang it!

How To Make Simple, Beaded Napkin Rings

I have never been a napkin ring kind of person.  I have always preferred to just eat as neatly as I can and use a paper towel (or my jeans) if that doesn't work out.  But, in the process of planning a wedding, I just keep seeing beautiful table settings everywhere!  We go to register, and the lady at the registry counter sets up little table settings to convince us to get pretty dishes.  Then we talk to the event rentals company, and they show us their large selection of table linens.  The more I look at table settings, the more I like napkin rings!  There's just something about them that makes tables look so charming.

So, since I can't resist the opportunity to do crafts (especially if there are beads involved)... I decided to make napkin rings to use at our reception.  They're really pretty simple to make.

Step 1: Gather your materials.

You'll need beads, round nose pliers, heavy-duty wire cutters, and memory wire.  I used 1-3/4 inch bracelet size silver-plated steel memory wire that was 0.5mm thick, and the size/strength of the wire worked perfectly for what I was doing and with a variety of glass, crystal, and stone beads.  If you wanted to use seed beads or pearls (with teeny-tiny holes), you might need a thinner wire- but then you lose rigidity in the finished napkin ring.

Step 2: Cut memory wire into individual loops.

Memory wire comes in a long coil like a slinky.  Using the heavy-duty wire cutters, cut it into individual loops, with about an inch of overlap.  You definitely want to use heavy-duty wire cutters for this, because memory wire is extra tough and will ruin ordinary pliers.

Step 3: Curl one end of the ring.

Use the round nose pliers to grab one end of the wire and curl it up into a little spiral.

Step 4: Add beads.

Decide which colors you want to use and try arranging them in a pattern on the table before you thread them onto your ring.  I like doing ABAC patterns, like the one below.  As you thread the beads onto your wire, the spiral will keep them from sliding off the other end.

Step 5: Complete the ring.

Stick the loose end of the wire through the spiral you made on the other end.  Then use the round nose pliers to curl the other end of the wire into a spiral as well.  You will have two interlocking spirals to hold your ring together.

That's it!  It takes less than an hour to make a set of 8, and the materials are pretty inexpensive.  A one-ounce coil of memory wire has roughly 100 loops and costs about $4.  The beads can be as cheap or as pricey as you want them to be.

I love this project for so many reasons.  First, the memory wire is so easy to work with because it holds its shape (which is fabulous when you're trying to make a perfectly round napkin ring).  Also, my favorite part of doing beaded crafts is choosing colors and coming up with the design- which is how you spend the majority of your time when making napkin rings.  It takes no time at all to put the beads on the ring once you've decided on your pattern.  Finally, the interlocking coils makes it super-easy to finish the ring.  There's nothing worse than spending hours on a long, intricate beaded necklace just to have all the beads slip off because you're struggling to tie a knot at the end or get a teeny-tiny little crimp bead to behave the way it's supposed to.  Wire coils are so much nicer.

112 rings and counting...