One neat thing about wordpress (or I guess blogs and websites in general) is that you can see what search engine words led people to your website. This can be helpful in learning what topics people are interested in.
What I found was the majority of search terms used for my site involved thrift stores and decorating with thrift store items. Since I just so happen to love making over thrift store items, I thought it would be fun to do more of it!
Starting today.
I found these little guys at a thrift store and liked them.
I don’t cross stitch so I’m not up on the lingo. I assumed they were some sort of frames for a cross stictching project since they had glass but all I could find about them is that they are cross stitching hoops. I couldn’t find anything online showing these hoops with glass.
If anyone has any idea about these, let me know because now I’m really curious. Most likely they are a rare antique worth millions and now I’m very rich.
Despite my windfall, I decided to carry out my project. To begin, I removed the glass and painted the rims white.
Once that dried, I picked out a fabric (I went with this lobster print) and used the glass to trace the fabric to size.
Then I just glued the fabric to the glass with the print side facing out.
And put the glass back into the frame and reattached the screw.
Then they were ready to hang!
They made the perfect decoration over my son’s bed, just in time for summer.
Now, on to the next thrift store makeover 🙂
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Maggie May's 
I grew up cross stitching with my gran and these are definitely cross-stitch hoops. In the traditional days, you’d use the hoop while you were working on the stitches. They keep the fabric taut and flat, the better to stitch into. But without the glass! Then you’d take the cross stitch results off the hoop and do something else with them. Frame them. Apply them to a sheet or dress or something. At some point, leaving decorative items slightly unfinished and still crafty looking became a thing. So people started hanging cross stitched works on walls with hoops. But still no glass. Just the fabric hanging out there, beautifully worked. My best guess is these hoops are a sort of later, formalized version of the ‘crafty hoop on wall’ thing. Someone wanted glass to protect the work. Which makes perfect sense. I’ve seen these get grungy from hanging on walls. Pretty smart! Nice find, and very cool results.
When the lobster fabric has had it’s day. try stretching your next round of fabric over the glass instead of behind it. Inserting the glass into the hoop, fabric facing the viewer, tighten the screw, and trim off the excess on the back. Sort of like reupholstering a chair. One thing these hoops do is hold fabric nice and taut! Which can be lovely with a fancy brocade or a pretty print. Have fun!
Caity, thank you so much for the info and for the tip for the future! I appreciate it. Thanks!!
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If you found embroidery hoops with glass in them, they are meant to be used as frames for a cross stitch project. Looks great!
Thank you! I figured it was meant to display something 🙂 I appreciate your comment 🙂
Anytime! From one Maggie to another, love the blog!
Thank you!!
Simple and inexpensive! Great idea!
Thanks…I liked the round. It’s different 🙂
Hoops and glass? I’m interested.
🙂
Great idea!!
Thanks! 🙂