When you get to know Zoe Balsamo, it’s hard to say which is more impressive: the crafts she creates or the room where she makes them.
The granddaughter of the self-proclaimed “original Martha Stewart,” who made pasta from scratch for dinner parties, embraced what she calls her “grandma hobbies” long ago, like needlepoint, crochet and cross-stitch. Then she went above and beyond.
CRAFTS THAT MAKE A STATEMENT
Balsamo once made personalized collars and stuffed animal adoption certificates for her daughter Izzy's birthday party. She won a Steeplechase Tailgate Award for building a life-sized Monopoly jail out of PVC pipe complete with a massive “Go straight to jail” card that stopped passersby in their tracks. Her Elf on the Shelf, she notes, once ziplined through her dining room.
THE ROOM OF HER DREAMS
So when the Balsamos moved their family of three into a new home in Sedgewood 10 years ago, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with the extra bedroom—build the craft room of her dreams.
Balsamo designed it herself, complete with shelving for hundreds of sewing and craft supplies, ribbons and more. She designed a 6-by-4-foot table in the middle, with wrapping-paper ribbon on one end, oversized bulletin board paper on the other, and a shelf underneath, so those sitting on one of the four stools would have a place to put their feet.
“If you’re going to be in here for several hours at a time, you need to be comfortable,” she says.
During a home renovation, Balsamo had a cabinetmaker subcontracted to build a desk for her husband’s office. She tasked him with executing her vision for the craft room.
“He did say, ‘I’m never doing another one of these again,’” she says, laughing. “All the slots for paper—those are actually boxes I found through a company. He had to paint all of those.”
She has drawers for stamps, scissors, glue guns, ink pens and glitter. She uses a Glowforge, a 3D laser printer, to cut through wood or acrylic. She custom-made a board to display the thread she uses for needlework, embroidery, crocheting and more.
“I may enjoy the process of collecting the supplies to do the crafts more than sometimes doing the crafts themselves,” she says.
A STITCH AT DAY’S END
Of all her crafts, needlepoint holds a special place—it's the one she reaches for at the end of the day, settled in with her husband and whatever's on television.
"Needlepoint just calms me," she says. "It's basically paint by numbers, but with thread."
She makes weekly rounds to her favorite local shops—Po's Point in Charlotte, Needleworx in Fort Mill, and 2's Co. in Rock Hill—and keeps Charlotte Yarn on East Boulevard stocked as her go-to for crochet.
ROOM FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
As for her family? They’re happy that she has the space for it, too. While her daughter hasn’t quite caught the bug—she’s mainly focused on high school and athletics—her husband is in full support.
“My husband loves sports. He obsessively loves sports,” Balsamo says. “He says, ‘If it makes you happy, you need to have your vice as well.’”