I can make that!

Not only can I make it, I can make it different and perhaps better. The original vote of confidence came from my mother, who saw this in a catalog but didn't want to pay that price. Also, after all was said and done, we noticed it was 18" by 14" which is rather large. But, if you love it, go ahead and buy it right here.

The inspiration: 

Our version (my mom gets credit for being the co-stylist & the finances of this project):

Ours is only 5" x 7". We bought a shadow box, red beads, and some scrapbook paper (Textured with little threads running across it! Perfecto!) right off the shelf at Micheal's. I already had the red embroidery thread at home (although it was thrifted from the Salvation Army I would like to note). My husband procured some metal scraps of the correct color (warm, not silvery) from his man room stash. And of course, having some nice graphic design software at home (hello, InDesign) and an inkjet printer I was free to run wacky textured paper through helped out quite a bit.

My dear husband was roped into being a partner in craft on this one. He drilled some nice tiny holes, a set of two on each side for me. I am hard-pressed to find the motivation to use the drill myself when he is around. Besides, it's not like I had a spare frame in the event I messed up!

I ended up doing doing the embroidery thread through the beads twice. I used a needle that fit through our tiny drilled holes and the holes in the beads to get it where I needed it to be. We actually ended up tying the knot on the outside and scooching it back inside. There was a bit of a trick to getting the tension right because I knew we wanted to do the tiny little metal clamps on each side.

In came the husband again. He tied the knot, invented the clamps, and put them in place. Whew!

Meanwhile, I printed out another draft of the words. I wanted the break between the two parts of the quote to fall directly behind the thread and beads of course. Being one who knows and loves type, I would also like to point out that I broke the text at the end of a sentence (unlike the version that can be purchased online). I would like to point out that there is a doll in the background of the above photo, not a child neglected in the name of crafting.

The only hang-up I had with the textured paper is that I had to pick off a couple of odd rough spots where the paper flaked and had black ink stuck to it. Not a big deal since I won't be mass-producing these anytime soon! Unless you want to pay me $100 for it. Then we can talk.

Also, I was really stressing about how to hold the beads in place. In the end, I just didn't. There are 10 strands of thread running through there and they don't seem to slide much. They shifted a little when I transported it and I was able to get them back in place by gently tipping the frame. Once it is hung on the wall, they won't be moving anyway!

The style and coloring of my finished piece is radically different than the inspiration but it matches the decor of the person who will be receiving it as a gift.