Twelve Weeks of Homemade Christmas: Week Eight - Ring Holder!

Twas the night before Thanksgiving, right?

Ben is busy making a couple masterpiece pies [all by himself!] and I'm doing final preparations for the mashed potatoes. My mom has been prepping a feast for the last week, all the trimmings a major foodie would go for: rolls that take 3 days to make, dry-brined turkey to be cooked to perfection on a Traeger Grill, 3 types of stuffing [remember Mom, it's all about me!], green bean casserole, and a couple extra tricks she has up her sleeve. I'll share photos. That is, if I can still move...

This week marks week 8 [!!] of our adventure into homemade gifts: The Ring Holder. This is the perfect gift for a newlywed or bride-to-be. Actually, really for anyone you might think feels a pang of guilt every time they set their ring on the bathroom counter or side of the kitchen sink...get that rock a home!

Today's gift came from another stop to a Fuego-type store, in the Bride-to-Be section they had a 'ring holder.' Again, I thought, "twelve bucks? highway robbery!" So here we go!

You will need:
-One small frame
-Scrap of fabric big enough for your frame
-Scrap of batting big enough for your frame
-Floral pin, upholstery brad, or small tack [this is what will hold your ring, so think small, think pointy.]
-hot glue gun and scissors

First, you'll need a trip to Goodwill or your favorite thrift shop. Time to start digging. Perfect frames for this are those little baby 3x3" or smaller frames. I found two fun winners [for a grand total of $1.50!]

Now, raid your craft closet for a little bit of fabric and some batting [I had a ton left over from my upholstery project. The batting isn't extremely necessary, especially if your fabric is thick. It does give it a little plusher look...]

One of my frames came sans-backing or matting, so I had to improvise with a scrap of cardboard I had. This actually worked so well on my circle frame, I used cardboard on the other, too.

...and I had to do a little readjusting along the way...

Cut your batting and fabric to have about 1/2" allowance on each side of your cardboard.

Fire up that hot glue gun. Similar to my tutorial yesterday, glue your fabric and batting to the cardboard tightly. Corners aren't as important because they are going to be hidden.

Do the corners last, but just make sure the fabric is taught. No need to make any sort of fancy fold-y corners:

Your next step is dependent on what type of frame you have. If you have the kind that you are able to remove the back, stick your pin-of-choice (I used pearl floral pins) into the front of your fabric. Only let about 1/4" inch stick out from the fabric:

Bend the back so the pin stays put and has a strong base:

Stick that bad-boy in your frame! You are done!

If you can't remove the back, just put your fabric/cardboard into the frame and do the same, but bend your pin before putting it in.

This project can become 9000x more crafty if you want to DIY-deck out your frame. I liked the way these frames looked, but you can go crazy with beads, paint, seashells...you name it!

Running out to Goodwill now so that I can stock up on a couple frames...yee!