Fun Sock Friday - The New Year is Here!

Image Courtesy of Blackstone Images

Last Friday was New Year’s Eve and I had a post planned – I’d wanted to share how much I love entertaining and post pictures of the large spread my friend and I put together for our gathering (of 4 adults and two kids). But I was so busy planning, preparing and enjoying that I didn’t get it done!

So as I thought about this week’s Fun Sock Friday post, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about… The 12 goals for 2011 I wrote for myself? My love of Freecycle? The soup I loved throwing out? My love of lists?

My head is blank – oh sure, there is lots going on but nothing quite focused enough to write about. My head is a bowl of unleavened dough – not quite ready for bread!
Perhaps you’re a full loaf this morning – I’d love to hear about what you love this week so please join us and post a link to your blog below.

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I know we all have something – be it socks, electronics, singing ornaments, or a closet full of beads that we want to share with the world. I want Fun Sock Friday to be a potpourri of things you love. I know this is vague and nondescript and I’m sure we’ll refine as we go along but let’s play!

This is new and as far as I know, original. Share here and spread the fun but please don’t host your own Fun Sock Friday.

Fun Sock – the Guidelines
1.Fun Sock Friday is about sharing. Posts should be original and mention your participation in your post. I’ll try my best to ensure my post and the linky are up by 9am Mountain.
2.Share something you love – craft, photo, person, song, collection – it can be anything but it should be something done by you because you love doing it!
3.Posts should be “G” rated and family oriented– no adult content or graphic images, please.

Fun Sock Friday (The Christmas Eve Edition) – How to Make the Perfect Bow

It’s just after eight on Christmas eve morning. I’ve been a busy little elf so far this morning… Buns are rising, ham is in the crock and I’m stopping for a sip of juice before tackling the rest of my to do list.

Over the past week or two I’ve been working on my bow making skills. I must admit I have a bit of a ribbon addiction and I have rolls and reams and spools of ribbon just waiting to be made into something. I’ve bought the majority of it because I love the colour or the texture but some has been purchased because I knew it would make a perfect bow. Four and a half years ago when I got married, I thought I’d perfected my art of bow making but it’s been a long time and when I sat down to transform the lovely Christmas ribbon into bows, I couldn’t remember my tail from my nose (hahaha). So in my chair I sat, ribbon in one hand, wire in the other and thought… I twisted and trimmed, tried and retried and then it happened.

Now I realize that I likely did not “invent” this bow, with so many talented crafters and artisans before me, they likely happened on the recipe long before I did but this is my attempt and I hope you find it makes as splendid a bow as I did!

Materials:
Wired ribbon (I used 12’ (about 3 metres) of ribbon to make the bow illustrated)
Florists wire (24 gauge) on paddle
Scissors
Wire snips









Cutting your bow

1.Decide how big/full you want your bow













2.Snip this length, allowing ½ to 1” extra for overlap














3.Cut three of this length (illustration used 20” for this)
4.Cut two more – one inch (1”) shorter (2 @ 19”)
5.Cut one more – one inch (1”) shorter than the previous (18”)
6.Cut nosing – 4 to 7” (depends on how you wrap it)
7.Cut tails – decide on how much hang you want on one side, cut 2x (leave one long piece)

Putting it all together
1.Pick up first long loop, overlap and fold loop in half to mark centre point. Pinch centre point in with overlap (accordion the pinch).









2.Using florists wire, wrap 2x around pinch, pulling very snug to secure (DO NOT CUT WIRE)

3.Repeat step #1 with next 20” piece, place immediately below first wrapped loop and wrap 1x snuggly with wire






4.Repeat with final 20” piece and place below second wrapped loop and wrap 1x snuggly. Wrap all three loops once or twice and pull tight. DO NOT CUT WIRE





5.Pick up first medium loop (19” piece) and repeat step one. Lay this pinch atop the foundation bow layer. Wrap wire around 1x.






6.Repeat with second medium loop and wrap 2x around, pulling snuggly.





7.Pick up small loop piece (18” piece) and repeat step one. Lay this pinch atop the middle layer. Wrap 2x to secure.





8.Pick up tails and fold in half. Place below all loop and secure.






9.Cut about 8” of wire from florist wire paddle and set paddle aside.









10. Take nosing and loop around middle of bow. Leave it loose and overlap at back of bow.









Using wire, loop around and secure nosing. Form a loop in the wire and secure to itself (for the hanger)












11. Fluff up the bow and viola! The perfect bow!



I just love crafting and I’m so glad I have this to share with you!

A huge thank you to my photographer extraordinaire and fellow blogger for helping me with the photography for my first tutorial. I can tell you the hot lights are HOT but they made the pictures just pop. I love you and thank you!

**So excited to be sharing this with Blissful & Domestic and her Friday Linky Party!**

All images used with permission. All images copyright Blackstone Images

Fun Sock Friday – let’s start a revolution

I’m certain you’re asking yourself “what the heck is fun sock Friday?” – Well, it’s a new things I want to try here at Barefoot Deliberations and was inspired by a memory (of mine) brought forth from a conversation with a new coworker.

Let me tell you the story of me and Fun Socks.

Many, many years ago, like most young adults starting out own their own, I didn’t have much. I worked in a warehouse picking and packing orders. It was grubby work and the ‘dress code’ was stuff you didn’t mind getting dirty. Since I’ve never been much of a clothes horse, I had very little to wear. I started having to wear my boyfriend’s “hand-me-downs” – old sweat pants and t-shirts. However, I always went barefoot (in my shoes) and owned no socks. This job required socks and closed shoes because of the risk of injury from falling objects. I did have a pair of shoes but no socks… So I had to wear HIS socks. And I wore them until we separated three or four years later.

And then I was single and my sock fixation started. Within a week of separating, I owned seven new pairs of socks. By the first month, I owned nearly 20 pairs of socks. Primarily, they were just plain socks but I started seeing some cute ‘fun socks’. With prints and animals and stripes…

When I met my husband, he was horrified that I ever wore my ex’s clothes and so started the tradition of sock giving… Every Christmas since we started dating there have been socks under the tree for me.

Warm socks, striped socks, printed socks, argyle socks, camping socks, summer socks, fuzzy socks and pom-pom socks. Socks of every colour, material and style have graced my sock drawer in the past 12 years and I’ve loved and worn every pair.

But I’m a professional now and for the past 8 years, my primary sock of choice has been plain black trouser socks and the pretty Christmas and ‘just because’ socks sit unworn and unloved. Then one Friday morning it happened… I had no clean black socks to wear to the office. The only pair of Fun Socks that I had that was even close to work worthy was a pair of striped ‘jail’ socks my sister had brought back from Alcatraz. I got to work and of course, everyone noticed my very noticeable socks and I said it was Fun Sock Friday and so my tradition of wearing Fun socks on Friday’s began. I tried to start a revolution and get everyone I knew to wear Fun Socks on Friday but like the pet rock, after a couple of weeks, I was the only one who wore them.

Meek and sheepish, I backed off too and decided that the month of December would be my Fun Sock Friday time and I’d wear my ever-growing collection of Christmas socks.

Fast forward through a wedding, a baby and a new job and a conversation last week with my coworker and I decided to revive Fun Sock Friday... But in a slightly different forum (and form, I suppose).

I know we all have something – be it socks, electronics, singing ornaments, or a closet full of beads that we want to share with the world. I want Fun Sock Friday to be a potpourri of things you love. I know this is vague and nondescript and I’m sure we’ll refine as we go along but let’s play!

This is new and as far as I know, original. Share here and spread the fun but please don’t host your own Fun Sock Friday.

Fun Sock – the Guidelines
1.Fun Sock Friday is about sharing. Posts should be original, posted on Friday’s and mention your participation in your post. I’ll try my best to ensure my post and the linky are up by 9am Mountain.
2.Share something you love – craft, photo, person, song, collection – it can be anything but it should be something done by you because you love doing it!
3.Posts should be “G” rated and family oriented– no adult content or graphic images, please.