Did y’all miss me yesterday? I was pulled in so many directions yesterday that I think I have whiplash! Needless to say, it was 4 o’clock before I realized it and I still hadn’t done a blog post. I’m posting today to make up for it and I’ll still have a post tomorrow, so you get to hear from me 2 days in a row. 🙂
Back in November I did a series on Easy Gifts for Christmas. I did a cork board makeover and promised a tutorial on how I did it. Today’s the day! I’m going to show you how I personalized a plain, standard cork board and made clothespin push pins to coordinate. Then you’ll have a way to organize things that’s also nice to look at!
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Supplies
- cork board – The one I’m using is a generic cork board I had on hand.
- thumb tacks – Flat thumb tacks work best for this.
- clothespins – I used the plain wooden kind because they cost less and are easily painted.
- painters tape – To mark off the cork board.
- stencil – For decorating the cork board. A handmade one will work too.
- spraypaint – Rust-oleum Universal will work the best for coverage.
- chalk paint – This will give a more uniform coverage than regular acrylic paint.
- metallic luster – I used this to add shine.
- old tee shirt – I use the sleeves from old tee shirts to apply the metallic luster
The Before
The cork board I had was functional just not very appealing to look at.
I taped a border around the edge and covered the middle with newspaper. This allowed me to spray the border without getting paint on the cork board. I left the tape as a border and painted the center with chalk paint.
Once it was dry, I removed the tape and decided on my stencil placement. The stencil placement was based on the size of my stencil, which is an outline type stencil. Using the metallic lustre in gold and the tee shirt sleeve, I rubbed all around the edges of the stencil.
You’ll notice parts of the cork board came off when I removed the painter’s tape. I think I pressed the tape down too hard, but I really don’t know why that happened. It’s also a really old, cheap cork board, so that may be the problem too!
Clothespin Push Pins
Painting clothespins can be frustrating if you want to paint the whole thing. I folded a piece of corrugated cardboard and clipped them to it.
This allowed me to paint everything that shows and have a place for them to dry.
I used chalk paint for the first coat, then rubbed metallic luster over the fronts after the chalk paint dried.
Next, I glued the flat thumb tacks to the backs with e6000 glue. Make sure it cures before using them!
All Finished
Now I have the perfect place to hang fabric samples!
Now I just need to make some wall space available! It’s time for another work space clean out. ;0
Y’all have a great day and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!
