DIY: Burlap-Covered Corkboard

For awhile, I've loved the look of the nailhead-trimmed, burlap covered corkboard offered by Ballard. I have several Ballard things and love them all, so by no means am I hating on them! The burlap corkboard was just more than I wanted to pay, especially not having a specific place in mind for where I wanted to hang it.  After seeing a few Pinterest DIYs, I figured I could do this myself!

I had a plain corkboard in an upstairs closet that I wasn't using and a lot of burlap fabric just waiting for some project! This meant I needed a staple gun and some upholstery tacks. I also needed some additional cork for the board.

I did a poor job of taking photos as I went along (especially in the beginning), but I'll try to explain my process!

Let me first say, I know this is not an awesome "DIY" post by any means! It's more "read the instructions" than "follow along with pics" which, as we all know, are far more helpful. I'm sharing, though, because I didn't really follow any DIYs to the letter...

I knew covering just the board (as-is) with burlap or the cork would cause the middle to sag (because of the wood frame). So, I found something build up the center making it flush with the wood frame. Using something I already had...I used a flattened Priority Mail box that I trimmed a bit. Whoop, free!

Once I had everything flush, I used a roll of cork to make a new cork surface.

This is from Amazon, but I got mine at Lowe's. Basically the same and the price was similar, if not a bit cheaper. Once I had the new cork applied and trimmed to size, it was time to bring out the burlap.

I laid out the burlap on the floor and laid the corkboard facedown to figure out the appropriate size. After I trimmed the piece I was going to use, I ironed the daylights out of it! Because burlap is so thick, I used the hottest setting on the iron, spraying the wrinkles with water before ironing.

Once I was satisfied, I again laid out the burlap on the floor, put the corkboard facedown, and pulled the edges back. I borrowed an electric staple gun from my coworker and enlisted TJ's help in pulling the burlap tight enough to the back of the board. I used a lot of staples...

Clearly I need to trim the burlap and apply the "no-fray" stuff I have...

Moving on now that the board is covered! Ta-da! (And now I put it away for a few days. I needed a break as this was not going as fast as I expected!)

Time to work on the trim!

I used these furniture nails from Lowes. They were 25 to a pack and only $1.30 each. You'll need more than one pack, but be careful when buying them to ensure they match fairly well. There were two completely different colors at Lowes that both said "brass."

 I thought this part would be easy. Wrong!

The wood frame beneath all the cork and burlap proved to be problematic when trying to add the trim. The upholstery tacks/furniture nails were very soft and kept bending when I tried to hammer them into the wood. So, I got a rubber mallet and used pliers to hold them in place, but the problems continued. I tried drilling tiny holes to get me started. People, I BROKE A DRILLBIT and it barely even worked! TJ suggested a slightly larger drillbit, and drilling a slightly smaller hole. This proved much more successful...

Before I started drilling all the holes I measured the distance and spacing of where I wanted the tacks and placed small sharpie marks, which you can see above. I used the drill holes to get me started, then used the mallet to hammer the tacks flush with the board.

There were a couple times I drilled too deep and the tack ended up just bouncing out of the hole. That's where I recruited a little helper I like to call KRAGLE. That's a Lego movie reference for you...it was Krazy Glue :) It worked wonderfully!

End result...
ta-da!

Let me know if you try it out! Now I just have to decide where to put it :)

DIY: My long list of projects

If you were a reader of my blog before I became pregnant, you know I love me a good DIY! I say "before I became pregnant" because lately, many of my posts are weekly updates or pregnancy related in some way. I am fully aware that I haven't been that great of a blogger these last couple months, so I apologize!

I have a lot on my list for these next few months in terms of completing the nursery, doing things around the house, etc., but there are still some crafty DIY projects I'd like to accomplish before baby arrives and my time is more limited. I thought I'd share some of them...

1. Re-cover my corkboard

I have a plain-jane corkboard that I want to re-do, Ballard-burlap-style. I am confident I can acheive this look for less, I just need to get around to it! This past weekend, I purchased my supplies, and I plan to use these two tutorials to help me finish the job...

via Frantz Featherings

via Beneath My Heart

2. Chalkboard Charger

I have had all of the materials to create this for months. I really have no good excuse for why I haven't done it!

via Southern Mess (Stephanie's blog)

3. Burlap Bed Skirt
I need a new bed skirt for our guest bedroom. (Do you say bedskirt or dust ruffle?!) The bed is full size and has a pretty quilt on it, but no bed skirt at the present time (you may have noticed here). I finally threw it away after the "skirt" portion had ripped in multiple places from the white part that laid flat on the box spring (if that makes sense?). Anyway, I've seen DIY no-sew, "easy" bed skirt tutorials on Pinterest, so I might give one a shot. We'll see.

via Styleberry Blog

4. Painted Pantry Door

Our pantry door is side-by-side with the door into our garage, so obviously I can't do one without the other. However...I'm not entirely sure that TJ will be down for this! I might have to do this sometime while he's traveling for work and surprise him with my finished project (would that be completely terrible of me?!) 

via Decor Chick

5. Curtains and pillow

I've had this pinned for awhile, and there are actually two things in the image below that I'm loving! She PAINTED these curtains using drop cloth and a stencil. I "need" (okay, want) a set of curtains for my dining room and this sounds like an awesome idea. However, I don't know if I'm suited to get down on the floor and paint them right now! Hmm. Anyway. The pillow on the chair is also one she made. I'd love some new throw pillows for my living room and this fabric is nice...butttt I may be too lazy. Home Goods might have something to fit the bill ;)

via Proverbs 31 Girl

Even though I love getting crafty, that's probably enough on the list for now. Two smaller (more realistic) projects, and two larger ones. We'll see what I'm able to accomplish over the next few months! 

I did recently complete a flag pallet for my mom, which I don't think I shared here. Like the terrible blogger that I am, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I gave it to her. However, she posted this picture on her facebook page.

It's a good thing I didn't inherit her photography skills.

DIY: Crate & Barrel Wall Hangings -- Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.

In February, I went to California for a work trip. At my hotel, I saw these prints, which I posted on Instagram hoping to glean some information!

I got exactly what I was looking for when "megspow" told me they were from Crate and Barrel. But with them being 3 years old, I'd either never find them, or they'd be a bajillion dollars.

So naturally I took to google, and found this, which I promptly pinned. I was going to make these bad boys!

original pin: source

I have a very big, very blank wall in my living room. For the past three years, I've been trying to find the "right" thing for the wall. See below. And please ignore the "lived in look." The squares on the wall are me trying to "envision" if this was going to work. Neither of us were really satisfied...

...so I changed my original plan a little and got to work.

 You will need the following:

• 12 x 12 x 2 board, cut into 8 squares. The squares are more like 11 1/8 inches, because the wood shrunk. (At least that's what the guy told me...but he cut them into squares with equal sides) If you can find a shorter board, that's great, but I couldn't. This was about $14 at Lowe's.
• Sandpaper. Free from TJ :)
• Paint for your squares. I chose a dark brown color (appx $10)
• Mod Podge or some other adhesive ($4)
• Some type of glaze. I chose Valspar tinted glaze (appx $10)
• Paper trimmer or scissors (and a really steady hand).
• Picture hangers (appx $8 for 10)
• Square Decals. I chose these, which are 11x11 and why I needed the trimmer. ($22)
  If I'd looked harder, I would have found these, which are 10.5 x 10.5 and included 9. If you don't like the geometric look, they have several others: venetian look, vintage butterflies, or any of these :)  (I actually might buy the venetian looking ones, for when I tire of the geometric look!)

If you have a lot of patience and don't wish to buy the decals, you can probably achieve the same look using various paint colors and painters tape. I am not that patient though.

 1 - After sanding the edges and surfaces, paint your squares. Choose whatever color you want!
2 - Apply the decals. Attempt to put them on as straight as possible. They are not very sticky. After you've got them laid, lift up one edge at a time and brush on some mod podge to help them stick to the wood. Be sure to completely smooth the decals back down on the wood to avoid any air bubbles or wrinkles. Go over the edges too. Allow them to dry.
After they've dried,  apply mod podge to the top. Do not do what I did and brush it on because it is streaky (see photo!) Instead, bunch up a paper towel and "blot" the glue on. Use a really light hand! Too much will cause bubbling after they've dried.
3 - After the glue is dry, do your "finishing" technique. I guess this step is not absolutely necessary, but I didn't like the stark white background of the decals. Again, I used a bunched up paper towel to blot the glaze on to avoid streaks. It is darker in some places than others and that's okay. I barely used any glaze.

The next step is to add your picture hangers to the back. I don't have a picture of this step, but I placed them about one inch down and in the center of the squares. Thankfully, I'd left the squares of cardstock on the wall, so I measured this same spot on them and used it to get my nail started. This technique worked pretty well because I only ended up with one extra hole in the wall. If that doesn't work for you, try Stephanie's toothpaste trick.

This is my final result:

Total DIY Cost: About $68
The mirror is what I meant when I said I "changed my original plan a bit." TJ and I both felt like the 8 squares alone would still be a little overwhelmed by the size of the wall, so I found the mirror and decided to add it to the mix. It is available on Overstock, and shipped quickly.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the final outcome! This was the most expensive DIY I'd ever taken on, so I was really nervous and tried to take my time. A few notes...

• I mentioned the decals might bubble up. This DID happen to me. However, I pulled them up enough to smooth out the bubbling, and smoothed them back down and brushed a tiny bit of glue around the edges. I am somewhat concerned this might be an ongoing problem... :-/
• The first batch of decals I ordered from Lot 26 had damage to three of the squares. I contacted them, and they sent a replacement set, no questions asked. YAY for awesome customer service! This delayed me on the project because I had to wait, but that's okay. It turned out in the end!

Don't forget to link up with Stephanie and Katie to show us what you did this week!

DIY: Burlap and Burns -- Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.

Well here it is, 10:17 p.m. on Wednesday night, and I'm writing this post. Nothing like a little last minute posty for you girls, right?! Right!

First things first -- can I just tell you how giddy this made me?

I know, I know...it isn't anything huge, I'm not a 3000 follower blog,

but hey...considering my posting schedule isn't FAB...it made me smile! :)

Now, back to how it's pretty late the night before the SPD Linkup....oh yeah,
I definitely have burns from the hot glue gun all over my fingers. Owie!

You will need:

-Styrofoam wreath form

-1 roll of burlap (depending on how full you want your wreath)

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun

-Wooden letter

-Acrylic paint

 (this may have been a pic I texted my mom...ha)

I got my original idea from none other than Miss Katie herself:

Source: mykeepcalmandcarryon.com via Jill on Pinterest

Sadly, I started this wreath almost 3 weeks ago. Following directions from Katie, I cut many, many pieces of burlap appx. 8 inches long. I started pulling an end string from the middle of the strip, creating "gathers" in the burlap. It required pulling several of the strings to get the burlap strips scrunched up quite how I liked them.

Now, unfortunately, I failed to read Katie's directions thoroughly on the next step, when I started gluing on my bunches of burlap. She glued on two rings, one somewhat closer to the center and layering another around it. I overlooked that step (oops) and started off just gluing my bunches to the face of the wreath.

(Evidently I am tired. I just typed "glying" for gluing, and "reach" for wreath)

Even with just one ring of burlap, it still looked pretty decent. 

 And it was at this point that I cleaned off my table and walked away from the wreath for nearly three weeks. Oopsie.

Tonight I came back to it, so I'd have something to post tomorrow.  Yeah I said it.

I cut some more burlap strips, created the bunches, and started gluing them closer to the outer edge. I had to put them close to the existing burlap because, as I said, I failed to read instructions and do it right the first time.

 You'll notice I cut many of the loose strings from the burlap, though I think Katie left some of hers. I chose not to do this, because my wreath will be outside (we don't have a glass storm door), and there's a bird that likes to build a nest on my porch. I figured a bunch of loose burlap strings would encourage her to pull them loose for her nest!

After this, I glued on my painted letter. It's a light turquoise/aqua blue color, nice for spring?
There weren't a ton of font choices, so I decided to go with this...

(In looking at these pictures, I can't decide if my wreath is fuller on the right side, or if

my letter is just a bit catty-wompus...)

This wreath is super easy and fast. Fast, assuming you don't leave it half-finished for 3 weeks ;)

Go forth my crafty bloggies! Make something fun,
and don't forget to link up with Stephanie and Katie!

DIY: Coffee Lovers Printable -- Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.

Welcome back, SPD'ers!

I had a lot of fun with last week's post and was excited to participate again this week!

(Even if I did wait till the last minute)

From the moment I saw this (below) on Pinterest, I loved it.

However, it's only an image. And not a very high quality one, at that.

Source: emtc.tumblr.com via Jill on Pinterest

I thought this would be adorable, framed of course, in my kitchen.

So I set about to make something similar!

I knew I needed to "replicate" the coffee stains, so I googled "Coffee Stain Brushes, Photoshop" until I found a free set of brushes. Unfortunately, because I downloaded several brush sets, I'm not sure exactly where they came from in order to link to the source. Free brushes are pretty easy to find, and as long as you run a virus scan on the file you download, you should be okay.
Ultimately, here is what I created, which I printed at home on kraft cardstock.

I stopped by Michael's for an inexpensive frame, with the original idea to paint it. I picked up a light robin's egg blue shade of acrylic paint, and a cheap brush. Here's what happened that made me understand just WHY EXACTLY my dad always uses spray paint!

 Try as I might, I couldn't really get rid of the streaks, or make them look "intentional" enough to live with it. So I scrapped the plan of paint (at least for this project) and scrounged around my house until I found another frame I could use.

I knew I wanted to put this near my coffeemaker, preferably on the wall, but our backsplash is tiled. I was not about to hammer or screw into that and ruin it. So I found (and by found, I mean I asked TJ) some adhesive velcro. I cut 4 small squares and placed them in each of the corners of the frame. I tried to line it up fairly well before sticking it to the wall. Here is the end result...

What do you think? I'm pretty happy with it! TJ even thought it was kinda neat!
(I expected he would think it was kinda silly, ha)
Also, I forgot to mention that this frame is for a 5x7 print (if you hadn't already guessed).

But that's not all, bloggies! I thought I would be kind and generous this week.
Are you a fellow coffee lover? Interested, perhaps, in the "coffee" print I made?
Like I mentioned, it is not an entirely original idea.
That said, I thought I'd share the link with you.
Download my "Coffee" printable here (pdf)!

If you have any questions - don't hesitate to ask!
Did you do a Pinterest or other DIY/craft project this week? If so...
be sure to link up with Stephanie and Katie for Saw it Pinned it Did It! I can't wait to see your projects!

DIY: Printing on Burlap -- Saw it, Pinned it, Did it. Success!

This week, I'm back for my second installment of Saw it. Pinned It. Did It.

And this time, ladies, I have a success story! Whoop Whoop!

  My original inspiration came from this pin:

However, my first attempt was a total flop, which you can read about here: Saw it, Pinned it, Did it. Almost. Following that "success," I decided to try the printing on burlap tutorial found here:

via

  First things first....you'll need:
-Burlap (8.5x11 for this project) -Scissors
-Iron
-Computer & ink-jet printer
-Freezer paper   This is the freezer paper I used, which I purchased via Amazon:

amazon

Let's get started then, shall we? Set up your iPad tutorial and ironing board and get to work!
There are two "sides" to freezer paper. One side is a bit more dull dull and the other side is more slick/shiny. Place the shiny side "down," touching the burlap (or the fabric you want the paper to adhere to). Once the paper is in place, run a medium-hot iron over the paper a few times, concentrating on the corners to ensure they are adequately adhered.

After you've ironed the freezer paper to the burlap, cut the excess from the edges, following the shape of the freezer paper. Remember, it has to be pretty close because it needs to fit into your printer. You don't want any loose edges to 'catch' on anything!

Once your burlap paper is ready, hey, now we're cookin' with peanut oil, Jack!
(Two points for those of you who got the reference to the best show on TV!)
In my original burlap monogram post, I told you to flip your letter. Forget everything we talked about last week, because this method is a lot easier! With this technique you don't need a mirror image--what you see on screen is exactly what prints out!

(Also, not shown below, but I put the burlap "face down" in my printer. The feed tray on your printer should help you determine the optimal way to load the burlap paper.)

Once you're ready, hit print, cross your fingers, say a prayer, and hope for the best!
Ta-da!
The black is not as dark or as saturated as I might have IDEALLY liked....but I can live with it!

I've yet to decide where this will ultimately "live," but for the time being, I placed it on this trunk with my little birdie. It's easily visible upon walking in the front door of my house.

Notice the difference in the photos above? iPhone vs. Canon digital SLR. I've been trying to use my Canon a little more lately. Even if it is just for blogging! :)

I hope this "tutorial" of sorts helps you out if you decide to try printing on burlap. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer!
Don't forget to link up with Stephanie and Katie for Saw it Pinned it Did It!