You’ve finished stitching your needlepoint, had it made into a beautiful 4-inch square ornament or flat finish…and now comes the question:
How do I display it?
Not every needlepoint piece needs to hang on a wall or Christmas tree. Small finished canvases look wonderful standing on a shelf, bookcase, side table, mantel, or tucked into a seasonal vignette.
And the fun part? You can make a simple little display stand yourself with inexpensive wooden craft sticks.
This project is especially nice for my 4-inch square needlepoint canvases, so I’ve adapted the measurements for that size.
What You’ll Need
For one 4-inch needlepoint display stand:
- 4 jumbo wooden craft sticks, approximately 6 inches long
- 2–3 smaller craft sticks
- 3 wooden oval beads or short wooden spacer beads
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Scissors
- Ribbon, fabric or decorative trim — optional
- Acrylic craft paint — optional
- Your finished 4-inch square needlepoint piece
BeeBee Tip: Before gluing anything, place your finished needlepoint against the stand pieces. Needlepoint finishing can add thickness and sometimes slightly increase the finished dimensions, so it’s better to fit the stand to the actual finished piece.
Step 1: Make the Bottom Support
Lay one jumbo craft stick horizontally on your work surface.
Glue three wooden beads along the lower portion of the stick—one near each end and one in the center.
The beads create the space where your finished needlepoint will eventually rest.
The opening needs to be wide enough to accommodate the thickness of your finished piece without squeezing it.
Step 2: Add the Front Rail
Glue a second jumbo craft stick horizontally across the front of the beads.
You have now created a narrow little channel.
Your finished needlepoint will sit inside this channel, with one craft stick supporting the front and the other supporting the back.
Before the glue completely sets, test the opening with your needlepoint. It should slide in easily but shouldn’t have so much room that the piece falls forward.
Step 3: Add the Upright Supports
Attach a jumbo craft stick vertically at each end of your horizontal base.
These two upright pieces support the back of your needlepoint.
For a 4-inch square finish, you don’t necessarily need the entire 6-inch height. You can trim the sticks if you’d
like the supports to remain hidden behind the needlepoint.
I prefer the stand itself to disappear as much as possible once the needlepoint is in place.
Step 4: Make the Feet
Turn the stand over.
Glue two smaller craft sticks extending backward from the bottom of the stand.
Think of these as the little feet on an easel.
Space them several inches apart rather than putting them close together. The wider placement
gives a 4-inch needlepoint piece much better stability.
Set the stand upright and test it before the glue completely hardens.
If it wants to tip forward, extend the back feet slightly farther.
Step 5: Reinforce the Back
Add one or two small craft-stick pieces horizontally across the back if your stand needs additional stability.
You don’t need to overbuild it. The goal is simply to keep the uprights square and prevent them from shifting.
Once everything is glued, place the stand on a flat surface and make sure all the feet touch the table evenly.
Now Make It Pretty
Here’s where this little project gets fun.
You can leave the wood natural, but you can also make the stand coordinate with your needlepoint.
Paint it navy for a chinoiserie canvas, white for a coastal design, gold for Christmas,
black for Halloween, or choose a color directly from the canvas.
You can also cover the front craft stick with ribbon or fabric before assembling the stand.
A tiny bow, narrow velvet ribbon or decorative trim can turn a very inexpensive craft-stick stand into something that looks intentionally made for your needlepoint.
Just keep embellishments above the bottom edge of the stand so they don’t interfere with how it sits on the table.
Add Your Finished Needlepoint
Once everything is completely dry, simply slide your finished 4-inch square needlepoint into
the channel between the two horizontal sticks.
That’s it! Most of the supplies can be found here.
Happy Stitching
BeeBee
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