A work in progress...
A few months ago we lost a great local store called Blue Tulip. It carried everything from greeting cards, to fine soaps and lotions to handbags, dishes, glasses, stationery and party items. It was a great place to stop off to get a hostess gift, a party gift or a teacher gift as there was really something in it for everyone. When they closed they had a slew of Going Out of Business Sales. I got a few items, not many. One items I picked up was a lovely white leather Guest Book. My grandmother always had one and whenever she entertained her guests would sign the book and jot down a little lovely or two. As a child I loved to read them, decipher hand writings and signatures, stopping every now and then to ooh and ahh over a celebrity, politician or even royalty. Our guests are not as exciting but still I love the idea of having something to remember each event. The Guest Book has yet to be opened. I keep forgetting!
Another thing I picked up at the sale was an unattractive, plain cork board. It was a great size and they wanted just a few dollars for it, so I snatched it up with great dreams of doing something nice to it for Rebecca's room. I had always wanted some place to pin up things or tape things, but I was not allowed. My room was practically museum-perfect with no toys out save for an antique doll and my Snoopy on my bed. I was so envious of my friends who had their posters of Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson, Scott Baio, Christopher Atkins which led the way to posters of Andrew McCarthy, Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe. Pages of Tiger Beat and Seventeen ripped out and taped onto walls. I wanted a room like that and I couldn't have one. I wanted a place to put photos of my best friends, and other collectibles like ticket stubs and the like. Now while Rebecca won't be able to tape stuff up on her walls either. No Jonas Brothers no Zac Ephron on her pretty walls. I do think a memory board would be a lovely thing for her to have.
Originally I wanted to line the cork with pretty wall paper then quickly talked myself out of that idea thinking that the paper would get destroyed too quickly. So I chose this dusty rose color to paint to cover the cork and a little bit of white, a thin green and white grosgrain ribbon that I will use across the board and a wide grosgrain ribbon in orange, pink, green and white that will cover the unattractive metal frame. I was so excited to finish up the board this evening but I couldn't locate any of my glue gun sticks. So bummed. So I will keep you posted.
The project was super easy to do. Anyone can do it!
You'll need:
One inexpensive cork board
Some paint (any color)
Wide paint brush, either bristle or foam
Ribbon -- any color and width that you like that will coordinate with the paint
Glue gun to glue ribbon around the perimeter of the frame and across the center
Thumb tacks
Place newspaper over your work surface
Apply paint over cork -- will need at least two coats as the cork absorbs a lot of the paint
Make sure brush strokes are smooth, or do as I did and create patterns with the brush
I also squeezed the paint out of the bottle in random patterns to create a 3D effect
When all had set and dried I painted circles in white over the pink -- you can create any pattern you wish. You could even use a stencil for a more polished look.
Apply ribbon with a glue gun and when dry it is ready to hang!
The kids celebrated Earth Day today at school. It was a magnificent day for it as the temperatures climbed into the 70s. The children spent most of the day outside composting and planting and making birdfeeders. They've given me some great ideas for crafting/recycling that I will post throughout the next week in honor of Earth Day!