As any teacher knows, the end of the school year means the purging of unnecessary things in your classroom. At my school, this means a free-for-all of unwanted things left out in the hallway!! I always try and pick through some of the things to find little treasures that I could use somewhere in my classroom or elsewhere. I came across an unwanted cork board that was ugly (because what cork board isn't ugly)... I decided to take this ugly cork board and up-cycle it into something I could be proud of displaying somewhere - possibly my classroom!!
Originally I wanted to make a functional cork board/chalk board that I could hang in my classroom, but after finishing everything, i decided I wanted to keep it at home, hang it in my kitchen, and make a different one to use in my classroom this upcoming year!!
Since I had a cork board with a frame on it, I had to get the frame off. I thought this would be easy, just take the frame off... definitely easier said than done!! After trying to get the frame off for about 30 minutes, I decided to just use a box cutter and cut the cork board out of the frame. Since the frame I was going to mount the cork board in was bigger than the original size, this thankfully wasn't an issue!!
My first step after cutting the board out, was to paint it with chalk board paint. I decided to paint the entire surface with the chalkboard paint because I still wasn't sure how much fabric I wanted to use. I did two coats (one horizontal and one vertical) using Craftsmart 'black acrylic chalkboard paint.'
Then I painted the frame. I did two coats of paint on the frame - even though I was planning on distressing the frame a bit... I wanted the parts that didn't end up distressed to be even. I used Americana Decor: Chalky Finish in 'Treasure.'
After allowing for the paint to dry (both the cork board and the frame), I used 120 grit sandpaper to distress the frame. Then I used adhesive spray (Elmer's Craftbond) to secure the fabric on part of the frame. I didn't worry too much about how straight the fabric went on since I had planned on hiding the edge under silver thumbtacks.
I secured the cork board in the frame using hot glue (since there were no fasteners on the back of the frame). After securing the board in the frame, I covered the line of the fabric with silver thumbtacks.
I love the finished product and plan on writing cute quotes on it every now and then!!
Love the end result!! I am planning on making a much bigger version for my classroom - possibly just a chalkboard! I am having a fun time crafting this summer - in addition to this I have also made a few mason jar vases in preparation of a 4th of July get-together we will be hosting!
Enjoy your summer!!
