3 May 2015

Fabric Peg Noticeboard Tutorial - Upcycle and old picture frame


A couple of weeks ago me and my great friend over at Socksy Beasts went out for a little visit to a local craft shop. We were told it was a bit chaotic but crikey it was like an Aladdin's cave for craft!! The problem is I went in without a project in mind and so I was just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, my mind went completely blank so I walked away with absolutely nothing. That's a bit strange for me but I really am trying to make more room not fill it! Mrs Socksy however didn't find the whole thing as overwhelming and managed to come away with a nice little haul.

So a little dissapointed and uninspired we left and as we drove round the corner we spotted a little kitcsh cafe. As Master Fox needed a feed, and we are never a pair to pass up a cuppa we stopped in while we decided what to do next. Amongst all the second hand kitsch furniture and oddments in this little cafe was a very cute fox themed fabric peg noticeboard. It was lovely and I very nearly bought it, until my age old habit kicked in and we decided we could do it ourselves for less.

So like the looneys we are we finished up our cuppas and cake and went straight back to the craft shop for supplies.


Because it was so simple and fun I wanted to share with you how I went about making one of these up. This is a great little project for a horrible rainy bank holiday like this one! Its also a perfect project for one of your favourite fat quarters.

Supplies:
  • An old wooden picture frame the size you want your finished board to be. You can get these really cheap in charity shops
  • Some fabric which is just bigger then the frame, a fat quarter will usually suffice unless you have a really big frame. 
  • Wool or twine
  • Some mini wooden pegs - you can pick these up from most craft or card making suppliers
  • Wadding
  • Chalk effect furniture paint - we picked up a tester pot of Craig and Ball for a couple of pounds in the local B&Q diy store.
  • Scissors
  • Glue Gun
First of all remove all the glass and backing from your picture frame. You dont need the glass front so you can discard this or find another use for it (like a pallet for your lino printing inks). You can then paint up your frame with the chalk paint, just be warned it might need a couple of coats.


Whilst your frame is drying using the back of the picture frame cut your fabric so that it is at least 3 inches wider on all sides.


 Next cut out some wadding to the size of the back of the frame. I used a couple of layers as I had very thin wadding left over from a baby quilt. If you are using thicker wadding you will only need one layer. Use your own judgement, the more you use the more cushion like the board will be.


Now we are going to stick it all together Place the fabric right side down, then the wadding on top of that and finally the back of the picture frame so the hooks are facing outwards. Using the glue gun put a good amount of glue along one edge of the frame back and fold the fabric over sticking it down well.


Repeat with all four sides until the back of your frame looks like the above.


Next you need to fold under the corners which are sticking up and glue them down with a blob from the glue gun. It should look something like the above. I'll admit its not very neat, I am sure you can make a much better go of this but no one is going to see the back once its hung on the wall. Maybe think about the neatness if you are going to give it as a gift though ;)


Then once you flip it over you should have a lovely soft cushioned square like the picture above. See it looks lovely from the front. Do think about pattern placement etc when you are placing your fabric.


Cut a couple of lengths of wool or twine, wrap it all the way around the back of the frame and tie a good knot round the back to secure. You can then add the pegs on and pop the whole thing into your nicely dried frame.

Now you have a lovely new noticeboard to keep reminders/pictures/ keepsakes or business cards. It looks lovely on my craft room wall, it's almost too pretty to hand things one ;) If you make one of these do send me a link, I would love to see it.



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