Something to "Wine" about! How to make a cute bottle holder!

My husband and I have been helping my daughter furnish and decorate her new apartment.  It is the cutest old place with lots of character.  She showed me a picture of a bottle holder that her last roommate had.  It was a three bottle holder from a high end home decorating store and had a very high price tag.  It was so cute and I thought it was something we could probably make at home!

The original was made of hickory wood stained with an oil finish and they used piano felt to make the bottle holders.  None of that was readily available in our area and the piano felt was not something you could find in our local stores but could be ordered online.  I looked at all my usual fabric stores that carried upholstery supplies and was so excited with what I found!
Here is a picture of the end result!

We are so pleased with how it came out and it matched her kitchen and dining area just perfect!  Here are the instructions on how to make it!

Materials needed:
19"w x 1.25"d x5.75"h
black wood stain
18 hammered nails for upholstery
Jute webbing 3 1/2" wide
Glue (optional)
2 Hooks to hang

Keep in mind that you can use any type of material and make it any size that works best for you!
First thing is to cut a piece of your plywood the size you would like.  You can get plywood in 5 3/4" to 6" width.  Anything close to that width would work.
Stain or paint your wood the color of your choice and allow to dry overnight.  If you want a more rustic look like the one we made then sand the edges a little for a rougher finish.

Cut a piece of jute webbing approx.  9" long.  It would be best to lie your bottle down on a level surface and be sure this measurement is correct for your bottle adding about 1" to your measurement.  Measure in about 1/2 inch from the edge of your piece of wood.  Fold the ends of your jute webbing  in about 1/2" to make a clean edge.
Nail 3 upholstery nails in along the edge at equal distances.

Place your bottle down once more to measure where your other side will be nailed down at and then hammer your other 3 nails in.  

Place the bottle in one more time just to be sure it will fit without sliding through.  Now repeat the above directions for the other two bottle holders doing your best to space them an equal distance.

Once you have the three straps hammered down you can reach in and put a bead of glue down the edge of each end of the webbing in the inside and allow to dry just to reinforce the nails so they don't come out.  Add your hooks to the back of the wood for hanging.  (be sure you approx. how much weight your bottles will be so you get the correct weight of hooks for the back)
Your project is complete!  I can already think of several variations on this project from painting to adding a cute saying to the top edge for a touch of whimsy!  Have fun and please share your ideas and variations that you make to the project!  I would love to hear what you have done!

 

...and so I begin AGAIN!

It's been a length of time since my last post.  I realized I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take with my blog post so I had to step back and reevaluate!  Do you ever do that?  Start something and then think "what am I doing?  I need to make at least a semi plan!"

I am excited to get back on my blog with a new vision of it's purpose.  I realized that family and friends had so many questions about the projects I have done and how I did it.  Honestly, I wonder that myself sometimes.  I would love to share my tips and "ways" of making things work whether it be a sewing project, craft project or just a daily something!  I hope to share the sources of some of my knowledge by referencing other blogs or resources that have contributed to some of my end results!

I have read so many amazing blogs from how tos to how not tos.  I am so fascinated by  the gifts of creativity and advice so many people have! The one thing I did realize is that I am a visual person and I love learning with pictures!  It reminds me of the days when I was in school and just loved those picture books!  Ok, so I still love picture books!  Pictures will definitely be included but I will confess that there will be projects that I may not have taken pictures of  in the past.   I will do my best to explain the steps without the pictures.

I hope that you will find some of my post helpful to you.  I also can't wait to get feedback from you on how to make a project better or how it worked for you!  If you have tips for a better blog I am so open to here that too!  This is all new to me so hang in there while I learn and take you on that journey with me!

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am ready to get started AGAIN!!

So much to be excited about!  I took an embroidery class today and learned so many hints that make a huge difference!  Had so many "duh" moments and for someone who believes in thinking outside the box I sure realized I just was thinking far enough!

Learning feels so empowering and I got such a rush when I realized the knowledge I had just learned in two hours.  Whew!  Makes me want to go back and learn even more!