Embroidery has always been a cherished hobby of mine. Over the years, I’ve created a variety of hoops that adorn our home, from our #LRCrafts logo to the thistles we chose as our wedding day flowers, and even my Irish dance academy logo. Each piece holds a special memory and adds a personal touch to our living space.
Recently, while reorganizing our home, my husband suggested a new way to display one of my pieces, for which we still hadn’t found the proper place – the Irish dance academy logo I embroidered during the pandemic. Originally laid on a shelf in the studio, he proposed moving it to our bedroom to create a dedicated dance corner, alongside my Irish dance competition trophies. Initially, he proposed displaying the trophies with a string art piece of our Irish dance shoes, but that project turned out to be too large for the space.
I loved the idea, but realized we didn’t have a suitable stand for the embroidered hoop. As many of you know, in our household, when we need something we don’t have, we figure out how to make it ourselves. My husband, ever the resourceful crafter, devised a simple yet brilliant solution using materials we already had at home.
He opened the cupboards where we store materials – all the things you keep because “you never know” – and came with a tiny piece of wood and a metal rod.
He used pliers to bend one end of the rod into a hook, which securely held the screw part of the hoop. The other end of the rod was fixed into the small piece of white-painted wood.
Since he had the materials and tools at hand, he made two stands, the second one for our #LRCrafts logo embroidery. Each rod was cut to a different height to accommodate the size of the hoops. By calibrating the height and slightly bending the rod forward, the hoops stand at a perfect angle, making the embroidery easily visible from the shelf.
We bended the rod for the Irish dance embroidery a little more, since it had to rest on a higher shelf. With such a stand, we can adjust the angle whenever we change position to the hoop for the best visibility.
This quick and easy project has opened up new possibilities for displaying my embroidery hoops. Instead of limiting them to wall space, I can now create beautiful shelf displays, adding depth and interest to our home decor.
The process of creating these stands was a wonderful reminder of the joy that comes from solving problems creatively. It’s about looking at what you have and thinking outside the box to make something beautiful and functional. As we did for instance when I didn’t have an embroidery hoop for the project at hand and my husband crafted one in no time from a folding ruler.
Do you have any clever ways to display your embroideries? Have you tried making your own stands or come up with other creative solutions? Share your ideas and experiences in the comments below: we’d love to hear from you!
