Updated Bulletin Board

Last time my parents came to visit, they brought me my childhood bulletin board.  Hooray.  It was old, stained, and colored on... the only piece of property I ever defaced.  It was sad, but I couldn't throw it away.  I have a soft spot for it. 

So, it needed some spiffing up.  Some SERIOUS spiffing.  It sat in the garage, awaiting a brainstorm.  And then, I saw this fabulous upcycle of a bulletin board from Amber at I Saw This Going Differently In My Mind.  It was beautiful and stunning and I was determined to make one of my own! 

Here's how I did mine:
1) I painted the background white.  With the stains and fabulous invitations written to tea in Crayola marker it took about 5 coats.  I used acrylic paint and Kilz. 

Gus helped... 

2) I cut out a diamond the size I wanted on my Cricut and came downstairs to trace it.  My Craft Rescue Hero said he had a better way to do it.  It used about 11 tools.  I abdicated my place with my stencil and marker and did the dishes.  It came out like this.  I have no idea how it came to be.

3)  I used leftover gray paint from when I bought a sampler to do see if it was the right color for the room.  I put a dot in the center of the diamonds to be painted and then did the outline of each diamond.  Finally, I painted them in.  I did do extra coats on a few so there were no stroke marks. 

Final paint job

4) I used a ruler and a level to create dashes across the board.  Because my diamonds aren't exactly perfect, I just shot for the center of the line I was doing.  It didn't take a super long time, maybe 30 minutes.  I used the fine end of a Sharpie. 

5) I covered the center, took it out back and spray painted the edges black with leftover spray paint.  This is the final result, hanging in my craft room!

I did add a black bow across the bottom and made some fancy pushpins, just for the board.  I hot glued pearl beads onto dressmakers pins.  This was the only thing I spent money on... a grand total of $5! 

I am super proud of it... some more pictures for you!

Pearl Pushpins

I think it is way awesome and I am so proud of it... what do you think?