This memo board is something I whipped up in a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon when I decided that the second hand frame I'd had lying around for a good five months deserved to be turned into something nice, at long last.There was a little bit of advanced planning, I'll admit, but for the most part it was all down to an idea I got while looking at other people's craft rooms to come up with some storage solutions for my tiny corner of the bedroom where I do most of my work. I saw some memo hangers and decided, you know what, I could probably make a nice, big one with that old frame I've got knocking about. So I did. And here's how you can make one too!
You Will Need:
- A large wooden picture frame without glass - This one was second hand for £2 in a charity shop and didn't have glass to begin with, just an old painting that I removed, but if you struggle to find one second hand, you can usually remove the glass from newer frames too. (Just be very careful as you do it!)
- Emulsion paint tester pots - £1 each in Wilkinsons
- Multi Mesh - £4 in Wilkinsons
- Wooden clothes pegs - 60p for 36 in Wilkinsons
- Sandpaper - If you don't already have any you can buy this in Wilkinsons for £1 a pack with 10 sheets included.
- Decorating paint brushes - If you don't already have these, Wilkinsons currently have them in packs of 5 for £2
- Stapler/staple gun, scissors and glue.
- Any additional embellishments you would like to use on the pegs. (Mine won't be decorated until a later date but you can look forward to that post in the future if you're stuck for inspiration!)
The How To:
- Sand the frame gently all over with a sheet of medium grade sandpaper and paint the entire frame in the first coat of your base colour. I have chosen "Soft Cream", number 177 from the Wilko range. - Don't forget to lay newspaper or an old sheet down first!
- After allowing the first coat to dry, add another coat in the same colour to get a nice, even covering and then leave it to dry again.
- Once dry, add a single coat of your second colour paint, this one is "Sweetie", number 401 from the Wilko range. - Try and make the coat even but if there are a few patches, don't worry too much about them as they'll be distressed later. Again, leave the frame to dry.
- Use the medium grade sandpaper to distress ares of the frame, you can go right down to the wood for a more shabby-chic look if you like, as I have here.
- Turn the frame over and roll the Multi Mesh over the back of it, leaving some overhang. - This makes the next step easier and will be tidied up later.
- Staple the Multi Mesh down all around the frame, you can do this with a normal stapler opened out, as I have, but this is very hard and tedious work so if you have got a staple gun, you would definitely be much better off using that instead. - I will probably re-do my staples when I can get hold of one, as they will then be much stronger and more secure.
- Trim the edges of the Multi Mesh so that none shows around the frame, ensuring your staples will remain secure and the mesh won't slip out underneath them.
- If your frame doesn't have a method of hanging already attached, as with mine, determine your hanging method and attach it to the frame as appropriate.
- Use wooden clothes pegs to clip notes, pictures and odd scraps for inspiration to the board. You can even decorate the pegs to match!
Top Tips:
- If you decide to add embellishments to the frame itself, try not to add too many as it could make the frame look over decorated. - Why not embellish your pegs instead?!
- Choose a smaller grid of mesh to give you more options on where you can peg your items.
- Choose coordinating colours for your paints, remember that you want your base colour to show through your top coat..
- If green mesh doesn't coordinate well with your decor, you can upgrade to wire mesh for £1 extra, still in Wilkinsons. - I got lucky in that my planned colour scheme goes nicely with garden supplies.
- Don't throw away your leftover mesh! (And you're bound to have some extra.) You never know what it could come in handy for and it rolls up nicely for storage. - My remaining mesh is going to become an easy to store guinea pig run!
- Keep spare pegs at the top of the board in case you want to add extra tidbits of inspiration later, that way you'll always be able to find them when you need them!
- You can do this on a smaller scale with a smaller frame if you like, to save space on a mini version just buy some mini pegs, you can find these in a lot of craft stores, but funnily enough Wilkinsons sell them quite cheaply! This jar is one that I have lined up for another project and the jar would make some adorable storage once you've used up all the pegs!
That's all for now but I have loads of projects I'm working on at the moment, most of them I can't yet post but hopefully I'll be able to do some mini projects when waiting for bits to dry on my main works that I'll be able to show you and get this blog a bit more active. I do miss posting regularly.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, like my finished piece and give it a go yourself, I'd love to see your interpretations!
Ta ta for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment