Monday, May 30, 2011

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?

3 comments:

  1. Ohmygoodness! I absolutely love this. The color is beautiful and the bow really sets it off. LOVE, love, love the bow. Glad to be of inspiration. I was originally inspired by another blogger who painted the argyle on a shirt....isn't blogging the BEST?!

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  2. So cute! Awesome colors! Your little Gus is adorable! Thanks for stopping by!

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