Thursday, May 22, 2014

Who Wants a Bland Cork Board? Not us!

This past Monday, I shared a pic of this ugly little fella:

In that post, I told you of my plans to hang it in Munch's homework nook for pictures and papers.  Yesterday, I shared pics of the finished product.  Well, here's how I did it.
Supplies
- Cork board - check your thrift stores for great deals
- Paint (s) - at least two colors 
- Paint Roller
- Q-tips
Step-by-Steps
1. Wipe off any dirt/dust.  I used a damp cloth for the wooden frame and a dry cloth for the cork board (I didn't want it to get wet and delay the drying time; cork is absorbent).
2.  With your base coat, paint the entire piece (both cork and frame)
3.  With accent paint color(s) of your choice (I used two at this point), use one Q-tip per color to create polka dots.  Other items that are perfect for a variety of dot sizes include: bottle caps, small jar tops (you can use one side as a stamp and the other side as an outline of a circle) or cans.  For this project, I just used Q-tips.  They made for great small "brushes."
4.  Allow the board to dry overnight.
5.  I pulled out the third polka dot color for Munch (it was a sample can of Pelican, a soft gray, from my living room wall color trials).  She used the Q-tip to create more polka dots.
She was a great polka dotter-er, lol.
I know.  The pinks and blues don't match exactly.  The circles aren't perfect.  It's not the BEST corkboard BUT it does meet all of my goals:
- it will focus the paper clutter to a specific area  
- she LOVES to play school and this can be her teacher bragging board for her good students
- it involves Munch in the design of her big girl room
- it gave us some Mommy-n-Munch bonding time
 
It's so rewarding for me to walk through my home and see projects or designs I've completed.  I want my kid to understand the best part of home is MADE... it's not found ready-made on store shelves. She is starting to really understand this idea and I love to watch my kid as she finishes her projects. 
 
 
 

We let the last polka dot color dry for an hour then hung it in her room.  She squealed when it was finally up.  She showed her Grandma Judy what WE made together and she couldn't wait for her daddy to see it when he got home that evening.
 
 
 
One of her favorite parts was pulling out the tacks the Easter bunny brought her; NOW she has a board to put them in!!  How cool, right?!
 
 
...
 
I could totally see shapes or letters instead of polka dots!
 
I am excited to complete a similar project for my mom cave.  I'm going to paint it all white then use gold paint for either polka dots or chevron stripes! I'm not there yet BUT, when I start and finish, you guys will be the first to know!

Photobucket

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