Celebrating handmade: Antique cross stitch samplers

Think back to a time before iPads and television, to a time when young girls had little to do on a rainy day but sew. While now we debate the merit of even teaching kids cursive in school, young girls would while away the hours killing two (or three) birds with one stone while doing these samplers - memorizing Bible verses, alphabets and practicing their stitchery skills all at the same time.

One of the earliest samplers on record dates between 200 BCE to 300 CE - that's pretty amazing. The oldest European samplers in existence date to the 16th and 17th century, but many have been lost to the ravages of time.

Historically materials used often included cotton, wool, linen and silk, as well as gold and metal thread. As material was often expensive at the time, early samplers featured stitches that were often very neat and intricate, adding much importance and sentimental value to the piece, which could often be found among a family's willed possessions and passed down from generation to generation.

Some were done by children as young as nine

Later in the 17th and 18th centuries, samplers because common in schools, and designs became much more informal and practical. School themes would often include alphabets, maps, multiplication tables and other educational elements. By the 19th century, the work was much more utilitarian, displaying knowledge rather than sewing skills. Many of them have been reproduced today for modern stitchers to recreate.

Crafter disaster: tile coasters

Every year I do crafts for my kids' school's annual Christmas bazaar, and I've been dying to try these because they look simple and can give a super return on your investment. I've seen several tutorials on them but rarely any posts about how they held up after long-term use, and figured if I was trying to  sell these things, that'd be pretty important info to have. 

Don't these look cute? In theory, anyway

I found some basic white tiles at Lowe's that were about 17 cents each, I think. I also found a roll of cork at Hobby Lobby that was about $5, and used a coupon for it. If cut into four-inch squares, I reasoned I could do about twelve of these to start, or something like that. (You can check dimensions online, I'm too lazy!) At any rate, I needed more than one roll, but it was very reasonably priced and comes in several thicknesses, although the super thin grade is probably not what you'd want for this project. I used an acrylic ruler and rotary cutter to measure and get nice, clean cutting lines. 

Then I adhered them to the back with my trusty stinky glue, E6000. This stuff is like hardcore rubber cement type stuff and STINKS. You'll probably want to run a fan, but it's pretty good stuff and I found that Walmart is probably the cheapest place to get it. Pretty sure I saw posts of people gluing it on with Mod Podge, and I'm not sure I'd do that because I'm betting money the corners would peel up. In fact, when I glued it down, I put a teeny tiny dab in each corner (which has a slight indentation on each tile back) just to make sure it stuck. I ended up having to use several rubber bands wrapped around to make sure it made constant contact with the glue until it dried and didn't leave an air bubble in the middle, and also to make sure those corner edges were pressed down. 

Now, here's one part I would do over: STICK THE CORKS ON LAST! More on that in a minute. 

I then found cool beer carton artwork from local distributors and a very nice grocery store manager guy. I love the colors, fonts and designs on the cartons, but you could do just about anything. These were great because the thickness of the cardboard made them much easier to work with, so I'm not sure how things like thin paper or scrapbook paper would work, unless it was really thick. I cut them on interesting angles, which kind of added some visual interest.

Now, what to cover them with? That was my next dilemma. Many Pinterest posts say to cover them with Mod Podge and act like voila, you're done! Except, I read while clinging to the edge of my seat, that doesn't make them waterproof. And if you're actually using them as coasters, well, they need to be waterproof. It might offer some protection, but some bloggers discovered that it left rings over time, and that's not very attractive.

The resin to end all resins 

I decided to use some crazy &^@ resin stuff to get a good, hard waterproof coat on top. It came in an inconspicuous box and I thought back to a project a family member had done with it and given to my parents. Looked harmless enough and I figured it was worth a try. It wasn't cheap - normal price like $25 - but I used a Michaels coupon for half off, which really helped and didn't drive up my overall costs as much. Then I looked at the directions - and read tips online - because holy hallelujah, it looked confusing! 

It came with pretty elaborate directions. It took probably an hour for me to set everything up: you need two containers, stirrers, and something to prop up your work because basically you pour it on and it drips down the side. Drop cloths and gloves galore, because you do NOT want that sh!t in your hair, on your skin, your clothes, on anything but your project. 

So I did all my research and was ready to go. I stirred and mixed, mixed and stirred, timed it for two minutes and all that jazz, then poured it on. You can use a straw to blow air onto the project to get air bubbles out, which works really well. I had a fan running but the fumes weren't too bad. Or maybe they were worse than I thought because ... I sat back to admire my work so far and then realized, I mixed it wrong. 

Basically you're supposed to keep the two bottles it comes in separate, mixing it first individually, and then mix it together. I poured and then mixed, which could ostensibly mean it wouldn't harden or turn out right and might get soft if someone put a hot drink on it. I admit it, I cried. And then had to move on from the idea that hey, I could buy more and make more of these things last minute because I still have three days before the bazaar. 

Um, nope. Had to slap myself on the hand and move on. But thankfully, I guess, I learned a lot from the fiasco. And thankfully no one has thrown them out yet because hey, I needed a picture for this blog post. 

And that entire bucket of leftover resin that I completely ruined - well, guess what. It turned clear and hard as a rock, just as it should be, so I'll never really know if perhaps it could've worked out. I wasn't about to try and then sell it to someone, only to have their coffee cup covered in soft, sticky mess accidentally. I actually scraped off the resin from each tile as if to somehow salvage them, and some of them actually looked pretty near what they did before I poured it on - which might be okay if you're only using them for yourself and not giving them as a gift. But otherwise, it was a complete mess - and I ended up with it all over my hands - which comes out slowly with vinegar and a lot of hard work. 

Blargh

One more thing about the cork that I realized, you should put it on last, because if the resin drips and runs underneath and gets on the cork, it looks icky like this. Not a very sellable product. 

So... maybe better luck next year.