Saturday, April 16, 2011

Stress Release and a New Tute {Magnetic Board}

These
past few weeks have brought a lot of turmoil and challenges for my family. Suffice it to say that being a parent of a teen and young adult is NOT an easy task. Many people told me when my kids were younger to enjoy them because it would all change in a few years. Boy were they right!! But of course, at the time, all I could think of was "not MY kid" he/she is perfect!!
There's a quote from one of the leaders of my church that says "If you think your child can do no wrong, just you wait."
Truer words haven't been spoken.
Aaaaannnnyyways...
on to the crafting because nothing cures the blues best than a good ole fashion craftin' night.. (well that and a bottle of Jack Daniels, but since I don't drink..glue, paint and fabric work well too. )


Several years ago
at my church's ladies Super Saturday ( a smorgasborg of crafting) we made these cute little doodads called magnetic boards (cue ahhhhs). It's simply a thin piece of sheet metal glued with special adhesive to a simple wooden frame. I had tossed this little gem around from room to room and it even lived in my "real" office at work for a short spell. Well I brought him back home and decided he needed a little face lift :)
Here he is before:


A little sad and blah.
I decided to cover the metal with some fabric I had left over from my jewelry organizer.
I then used a variety of ribbons and embelishments I had lying around the house.
So this little facelift cost me nothing. Zilch. Nada.
To make your own, you can easily get some pieces of molding cut to size at your local hardware store then buy the piece of sheet metal and adhere. Ask at the hardware store, those folks are SO eager to help you!!

What I used:
Magnetic Board I already had
Fabric
Modge Podge adhesive
Spray adhesive
wooden clothes pins
scrapbook paper various colors
twine
decorative magnets
foam mounting tape
E-6000 adhesive
embelishments
paint
brushes
picture frame hanger
So here are the steps:
Step 1. Set up your little painting station (since we had wind gusts of like 140 mph last night, I decided to set up in a corner of my dining room.)
I set up my folding table covered with newspaper, brushes, paint, glue and fabric. Take your picture framing hook and nail or screw to the back as you wish.
Step 2. Measure the area you want to cover with fabric. Cut the fabric and leave abut 1/2 inch all the way around for screwups (and with me there's ALWAYS screwups).
Set the fabric aside.
Step 3. Paint your frame. Let it dry.
Step 4. In the mean time, gather up your clothes pins and small brush to paint.
The way I painted them is to just paint the part where the actual spring is showing. Front and back. We don't care about the side because we'll modge podge it with paper later. Paint on the inside of the pins and then place them on a piece of foil or wax paper to dry. I put mine under my very heavy mixer to keep the clothespin open so the inside wouldn't stick shut.
Step 5. Once the clothes pins are dry, make a template for the sides.
Lay your clothes pin on pretty decorative paper and draw around it. Cut several pieces to make just enough to cover all your pins.





Step 6. Brush modge podge on the one side of your pin and place your paper on it. Don't do both sides because you'll ruin the paper. Do one side at a time. TIP: modge podge can get pretty messy and your fingers will bead up with dry glue. Keep a wet rag to clean your fingers often lest you ruin your paper by transferring gunk onto it.
After the one side is dry to the other. On mine, I alternated between matching sides and non-matching. I'm crazy like that.
Step 7. Once your board frame is dry carefully spray the adhesive from about 5-6 inches away (careful nothing is close by lest it get sticky too) and immediately lay your fabric down. Working quickly, smooth out any wrinkles and firm it into place on the sheet metal.
Step. 8 Using an exacto knife trim off any excess around the edges. Make sure your knife has an extremely sharp edge.
Step 9. Using ribbon and any adhesive, glue decorative ribbon around the frame and inside the frame around the fabric.


Step 10. Make the magnets. Now these I already had but they are super easy to make. First get some magnets. Then some pretty scrapbook paper.
Get some of those clear, flattened, glass rocks they sell at the craft store. Cut your picture to fit under the rock. Place a dot of the E-6000 on it and press to the glass. Let it dry. Then take the magnets and do the same glueing it to the paper. 




 Step. 11 Now the fun part. Take a piece of twine and measure it so that in hangs slightly between the two edges of your board. Leave a little longer so that you can glue to the magnets. Add a bead of the E-6000 around the edge of the magnet. Take the twine and loop around the magnet. Hold for a few minutes until it is dry. (see why you need the wet rag?) Do the same for the other one. Now it will hang across your board like a clothes line. You will hang your notes, pics, etc from this piece of twine with your clothes pins.
Step. 12 At embellishments as you want. I had this cute little flower candle ring that I just shaped and took a couple of pieces of foam mounting tape to adhere to the corner of the board to give it some personality.
I think it looks sweet. Especially with a baby pic of my sweet girl. Ohhhh if only I could turn back time!!






Step. 13 Hang in your favorite spot and enjoy.







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  1. Very cute and creative! Thanks for sharing!

    Deanna

    http://deelitefulcreations.blogspot.com/

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  2. You gave that such a great facelift and it is "blah" no more! :-) I'm so sorry that there has been turmoil in your home and pray that all of you will lean in to the One who can bring peace in the midst of the challenges. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at our Sister Saturday party!
    Vanessa

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