Tutorial: Fabric Bulletin Board {revamp}

A really good friend of mine gave me a beige on beige fabric bulletin board last summer. I knew I wanted it, but I also knew that the beige on beige was going to have to go! For months I looked for fabric, and thus I found this beautiful black and off white print. I scoured the ribbon aisles at Michaels Crafts and fell in love with this turquoise. Thankfully, Mr. Woodsy helped me with this project. I have the begining stages of arthritis in my hands, so gripping a nail gun is out of the question. I even have a difficult time using pliers without my hand cramping/freezing in place. It's sad and it stinks especially since I'm not even 30 yet! But I guess it's the facts of life. Thankfully, I have an amazing assistant to help with projects like these!

*A follower asked the question of how much fabric and ribbon did we use? I know for a fact it was less than a yard of fabric and less than one spool of ribbon. Wish I had the exact measurements, but I don't! 

First you will want to lay your fabric out, pattern side down, and draw a "T" line. 

Line up your old bulletin board with your "T" line. 

Cut around the old bulletin board. 

Tightly, wrap one side and begin stapling. 

Repeat with the stapling--pulling the fabric tightly, so that there are no loose ends. 

For the corners you will want to tightly gather the corners. 

Hold your thumb near the area you want to staple. 

... And staple! 

Then cut off the excess ribbon. (*I have to comment how much I love Mr. Woodsy... not only did he help me re-cover this board he uses pink scissors without any hesitation!) 

Next, you will start with one end of the ribbon and wrap it on the back of the board, followed by one staple! 

Here is another picture of how it looks when you first start your ribbon.  

After you secure one side of the ribbon, wrap it diagonally across the board, and staple it. Cut the ribbon and repeat on the opposite side, so that you'll have an "X".

We drew a diagram prior to unwrapping the ribbon off the old board, so that we could follow it for the new board. 

Now, this is where the challenging part comes in to play... start in the center of the board. Secure the ribbon, bring to the middle of the board (so that a smaller "X" will appear), staple it in place...

... then loop the ribbon around, so that you can bring it down to form another smaller "X". Repeat this until all four corners have been completed. 

Once the ribbon is secured, you will want to place a staple in the center of each of the "X's". 

Make sure that when you staple the ribbon you do this on a surface that can be damaged if necessary. Our staples were a bit long, so they went right through the board. Mr. Woodsy used pliers to fold the staples down. 

Next, you will want to work on the buttons for the board. 

Next, you will want to use pliers to snap the backs off the buttons. 

Backs have been removed from the buttons! 

Heat up your hot glue gun and get ready to start glueing your buttons on to the staples/ribbon. 

Place a small amount of glue on the center of the button. 

Press firmly on the button to secure it. 

Repeat until all button have been secured into place. 

I flipped the board over and applied a little hot glue to the edge of the fabric. In some cases the fabric was a little loose. I tightened it up by placing a thin line of hot glue on the edge. I then used my handy-dandy hot glue gun helper thimble to smooth out the glue. *no hot glue gun burns here*

Lastly, it's time to hang up this amazing little revamp project!

Make sure it's level... 

Voila! 

My laundry room is looking a little more complete... now on to find a new rug! 

Frosted Valentine's Day Vases {Mini Tutorial}

Last year, after receiving my cricut for Christmas (2009) I started seeing all of these blog post about cutting vinyl with the cricut! I was instantly intrigued, but at the same time quite a bit intimidated. I saw on a blog (and forgive me that I did not document which blog) how you could use etching cream, vinyl, and a plain vase to create a frosted glass! I cleaned my vases very well with hot water and soap prior to getting started on the project. I laid out newspaper on my kitchen island, and got to work!

Supplies Needed:

-Vases (I bought mine for a dollar each at the dollar store)

-Etching Cream (about $10)

-Sponge brush

-Vinyl

-Newspaper

-Sink with flowing water

In my mind I mapped out how I wanted this to look. I cut out individual phrases and shapes on my cricut using about 3 sheets of 6x12 vinyl. I can tell you that the person who blogged about this project had design studio where she welded everything together prior to cutting it out. I on the other hand still design studioless cut out each individual shape/phrase and applied it by hand to the glass (a little on the time consuming side). 

After I applied ALL the vinyl by hand I started rubbing a generous amount of etching cream to the vase. Well, I thought it was enough on the first vase--I later found that you really need to cake the stuff on and make sure it isn't streaky or that's the way your vase will come out. 

Me, concentrating on painting on the etching cream. 

Me, posing as I rub on the etching cream. ;) Once you have all the etching cream on you let it sit for about 20 minutes, wash the etching cream off in the sink, and then peal the vinyl off.

Here is a picture of my final product. You will see that they are all a little streaky, but I think it was a great first attempt! I used these vases for Valentine's day as a center piece on the table.  I had flowers in the middle vase, and I placed tea light candles in the other two--too not only set the mood, but give a nice glow to the table. Throughout the year (and to hold flowers throughout the year I use the LOVE vase and the Live, Laugh, Love vase to hold flowers. 

*All pictures were pre-DSLR and pre-blog. I merely documented my project to share with family and friends!

{Mini Tutorial} Creepy Critter Boxes

I got the idea for this project originally from Tatertots and Jello with her {Creepy} Halloween Specimen Art tutorial, and then I saw the awesome "Glitter Spider Art" made by Ameroonie Designs. I knew I needed to make a version of my own, and I wanted to make it interchangeable for the holidays. I'm thinking tree's and snowflakes for Christmas, hearts for Valentine's day, 3 leaf clovers for St. Patrick's day, and eggs & bunnies for Easter! That's why I used foam core as the backing, so that I can easily take them out and replace them with a new background or scene.. This project maybe took me 30 minutes at most, and added a nice touch to all my Halloween decor!

Supplies Needed:
2 t-shirt shadow boxes ($4 each at Michaels)
burlap
2 pieces of foam core
hot glue gun & glue
stapler
scissors
creepy critters

1. Measure out enough burlap to cover the front. You'll see I had to use 3 pieces to cover the white foam core. You will want to staple each piece to the foam core. 

2. Next you will want to arrange your creepy critters accordingly, and then hot glue them on to the burlap. 

3. Place the foam core in the shadow box *the creepy critters should touch the glass or come close to touching the glass. Seal up the box, add a picture frame hook if necessary, and hang them up! 

Here is the finished project! 

We placed them in between our bloody guest bathroom and laundry room! 

Next year I'll add aged labels to the glass frames that describes each of the creatures making it more like a "specimen" box than a creepy critter box!