DIY Magnetic Picture Board

I've been working on my entry area of my home for awhile.  I didn't want to just put something there and not love it, and I always want functional items that are fun and feel like my personality.   

I eventually found a bench with drawers underneath at a garage sale and painted it yellow.  I love the fun bright color, and the useful drawers to hide backpacks and tutoring materials.

I also found a round side table on Craigslist and of course painted it, and then a basket to hold shoes.  The only thing I was missing on my entry area was something great on the wall.  I knew I wanted a mirror, and to somehow showcase pictures easily.  I wanted those pictures to be easily rotated and switched around.  

Eventually, I came up with a DIY Magnetic Picture Board that can be made in 10 minutes for less than $20.  It's easy, fun, and functional.  I'm a big fan.  

Our entry wall was made with items on sale and/or refurbished, and I absolutely love it all!   

I did tell you, this DIY Magnetic Picture Board is incredibly fast and easy to make.  GIve it a go; you'll love it too!

Here's the quick tutorial.

What You Need:

• Picture Frame: you want to get a frame the same size as the sheet metal.  I found 12x12 inch frames at JoAnns, and there were two different coupons I could use (they take competitor coupons in case you didn't know) making them $10 each. 
• Sheet Metal: you want to get sheet metal that is the same size as your picture frame.  I found 12x12 sheet metal at Home Depot, and overall any home improvement store will have what you need.  Though, I found the best selection at Home Depot.  They had a variety to choose from, and it was only $6.  You can also go to a local metal shop and get sheet metal cut to a specific size. 
• Picture Prints: have a few pictures printed out that you want to display. 
• Magnets: used to hold your pictures up.  

 DIY Magnetic Picture Board How To:

1. Take your picture frame and remove the glass insert.
2. Place your sheet metal into the frame where the glass once was. 
3. Place the backing of the picture onto the back of the sheet metal. 
4. Hang the Magnetic Picture Board where ever your heart desires. 
5. Place your pictures and magnets in whatever fashion. I printed pictures at Costco and had my little Instagram magnetic pictures printed from Sticky9.

Seriously, that's all.  Buy a picture frame, insert sheet metal, hang your frame, place your pictures on it. It's all easy peasy fabulous, fun, and functional. 

Holler with questions, otherwise... 

Happy DIY Magnetic Picture Board making and enjoying!  

DIY Gallery Wall- A Simplified How To

We have a large open spot on the wall that after living here for a couple of years I finally decided a gallery wall would look really nice there.  I realize I'm slow, but I am of the personality that I leave it blank until I know exactly what I want to do.    

So, I started to do some research aka I looked around on Pinterest and found a couple of Gallery Walls that peeked my interest.  One of the gallery walls had all black and white canvases.  I thought that looked really cool.  Another gallery wall I liked had all frames that were the same color..  I decided I wanted to do a bit of both.

I soon realized I could not afford to do all or pretty much any canvas pictures.  However, I really liked them.  So, I DIYed some canvas pictures; check it out here for a tutorial. 

Then I couldn't quite find the frames that I was imagining/picturing in my head.  Therefore, I made some and I am much happier with them.  All I had to do was buy some plain frames at JoAnn's being thrifty using my 40% off coupon and painted them myself.  Check out that Striped Picture Frame DIY here.

Now that I have everything ready, let's get down to business with the DIY Gallery Wall Tutorial. 

Materials you may need: 

• canvas, frames, and pictures
• ruler
• pencil
• large butcher paper to cover your gallery space on the wall
• painter's tape aka blue tape
• level
• hammer and nails to hang  

First step, buy however many canvases and picture frames in various sizes that you want.  I seriously just went with my gut thoughts as I stood in the canvas aisle at the store.  Canvases and unfinished frames are really cheap with a coupon so if you buy more than you'll end up using I'm sure you'll find some fun project like this fun crayon one I saw on Pinterest that you'll need a canvas for. 

Second, lay out your canvas and frames on the ground.  Explore options and possibilities for your gallery wall layout until you find one you are happy with.  Below are just a few of the options I was brainstorming.

Third, now that you have the layout down you need to pick which pictures will go on which frames.  We had just had family pictures done and picked from those.    

I do think it would look cool if you took great pictures yourself or had several family picture sessions throughout the years to pick from.  You could have a mixture/gallery of pictures from several points in time. 

I'll have to work on that for down the road and switch out canvases and pics as I see fit.  Personally, our only other family pictures were taken when I was 9 months prego.  That was ridiculous and no women should ever do that; those pictures are no bueno and are definitely not going up on a gallery wall.  

Fourth, order your pics and make your canvas pics and frames using the tutorials linked here.  

Fifth, get some large paper/butcher paper and lay it out on the ground as seen below.  You'll need the paper to be at least as big as your gallery wall.

We used engineer plans for our paper and taped it together. As far as where to lay it out, I would suggest laying your paper out on hard flooring like tile or wood to help with your leveling process down the road.      

Sixth, lay out your pictures on your paper in the layout you had initially decided upon.  We ending up moving it a bit more once it was on the paper again, but your initial layout will save you a lot of time in this step.

Seventh, using a ruler and level make sure the pictures are straight and even.  We opted to have the majority of the top of the gallery wall to be level on one line, but the bottom isn't.  We also wanted the sides on one line as well.  My husband is an engineer; he gets more exact and excited about the numbers of centering on paper etc.  I personally just went with the visual of how it looked, but then used the ruler and level to make sure it was straight.  

Eighth, after your pictures are straight use a pencil and trace around the top and half way down the sides of each picture.  You'll want to be precise here b/c this will give you an exact location of where to put your nails.  This is why the previous step is so important, and it will save you a lot of hassle in the next few steps.   

Ninth, remove your pictures from the paper.  You should see your pencil markings underneath.  

Tenth, tape your paper onto the wall you are hanging your gallery.  Again, you will want to make sure you paper, or at least the line that the top of your gallery wall is lined up on, is straight and level.  

Eleventh, use a hammer and nails and hang up all of your pictures.  We ended up doing two nails for each canvas to give us a steady and secure location for the pictures to hang.  We used the pencil outlines to know exactly where to hang.  While hanging the pictures we would measure the back of the canvas where the nail would hang (under the wood frame), and then measure down that same distance on the pencil markings on the paper.  

Hanging the pictures was actually incredibly quick b/c all of the precise work was done before.  

Finally, remove the pictures from the wall, but leave the nails in.  Then remove the paper by lifting the paper up over the nails.  All of the nails will still be in place, and you can easily put the pictures back up on the wall.  We didn't even need to double check it after putting the pictures up again; it was all level and looking good.

Gallery walls seem scary; they did for my husband at least.  I had actually completed all of the pictures over a month ago, but my husband was not excited and downright nervous to hang them all.  He figured it was going to be challenging, frustrating and all around beastly.  Therefore he procrastinated until I said we were doing it.  

Using the paper as a layout and measuring everything before outlining the pictures made all the difference.  My husband even commented after that "it was a lot easier than he thought it would be." 

 Sure you may think a gallery wall looks really neat, but actually getting it all planned out and on the wall is much too difficult and time consuming.  However, it really isn't difficult or time consuming.  We completed the hanging of the gallery wall during nap time.

A gallery wall takes some planning, but it doesn't take nearly as much time as you would think.

Plus, it really is worth it.  My kids love pointing to their pictures on the wall, and all of our guests have commented on how fabulous the gallery wall looks.  

Now, I am excited to switch out canvases over time so that our gallery wall looks like a true gallery built over years and years.  

On a  completely different note, I participated in my first Link Up party over at Living Well Spending Less, and I even had someone find my blog and get some book ideas from that Link Up party.  Exciting stuff! Just had to share my excitement with yall!

Happy DIYing!  As always, holler if you have any questions or need any clarifications.  

DIY Canvas Photo

I have always thought pictures on canvas looked so relaxed but classy at the same time.  For awhile I have wanted to do a gallery wall.  So, I finally decided I would do a gallery wall with a mix of frame and canvas prints.

After we finally got family pictures taken I figured the wall gallery lay out a bit and realized there was no way we would ever be able to afford the number of canvas pictures I wanted to do.

I had a friend that put pictures on canvas, and I figured I'd do the same.  I mean, you can get canvas pictures at a craft store for around $5.  Five dollars plus printing out the pictures plus Mod Podge seemed MUCH more affordable.  If you want to put pictures on canvas then this is your affordable option.

However, I'm all about being real here (I mean I don't Photoshop my fancy iPhone pictures... I'm all about real).  These pictures look really good,... BUT if you are thinking that it is going to look like those fancy canvas pictures that cost at least $50 they don't.  Honestly, they look like pictures with a different kind of frame.  They look different, but they still look really good and I'm happy with them.  I just want to be honest with you since I learned a few things along the way.

Speaking of being honest, let me just say that so, so , so many other blogs/craft websites LIE.  Seriously, I'm a librarian.  I do research before a project.  I do A LOT of research b/c yet again I'm a librarian that likes to be thorough.

Everything I read talked about the project taking 5 to 10 minutes.  So, I got everything ready and when the kiddos went down for their naps I was ready to complete the projects as well as fold clothes, write blog posts, and get dinner ready.  I had big plans for nap time, but I was deceived on this project.  Sure, the "active time" of actually working on the project was only 5 to 10 minutes, but there was the dry time of painting the edges that I did not take into consideration.  Therefore, I'm going to be real with you... either break this project into two days or plan on it taking approximately an hour to complete.

Though, I'll give you all the info on how to make a quick (if you don't include dry time) cheap and inexpensive canvas photo.

What You Need:

• Picture Printed on regular photo paper (You want a high quality print out, but you can do thin photo paper if you can print it out well)
• Canvas the same size as the picture you have printed
• Paint for the edge of the picture.  I did white and yellow, but I think the white doesn't look as "complete" or good as the yellow.  Therefore, I would do a different color than white.  
• Paintbrush for painting the edge of the canvas
• Mod Podge I had glossy Mod Podge, but it doesn't really matter what kind you have it just depends on the look you are going for.   
• Foam Brush- get a small one (about $0.25) at Walmart. 
• Drop Cloth or paper bags to work on (paper towels do not work well, I have paper towel stuck to my Tablecloth b/c I brilliantly attempted to use paper towels as a work space protection). 

1. Paint just the edges and an inch or so on the top of the canvas you will be using in your pic.  When your paint is dry you can move on to the next stage.   I do recommend painting the edge; it looks a lot more  complete.   

2. Use Mod Podge and a foam brush to evenly coat the sides of the canvas.  This is just to give your canvas a more normal look.  

3. Use Mod Podge and foam brush to coat the top of the canvas and the backside of the picture you are going to attach to the canvas.  

4. Press picture to canvas. Rub out any bubble areas and make sure you picture is lined up evenly on the canvas.

 5. Mod Podge on top of the picture with an even coat making strokes in one direction.  I had read to use a cheap roller, but I would advice against that.  I found it easier and better for making consistent even strokes to use the foam brush.  If you were doing this same idea to wood instead of canvas a roller would be great b/c it is an even hard surface (ideal for rollers).  No matter how you do it just make sure not to leave any big smears on any faces.

Being a Mod Podge virgin (crazy huh?) I was a bit concerned seeing my beautiful picture all cloudy and white.  However, it'll dry clear.  Have no fear.  Though, do make sure you don't move your picture around.  At one point when trying to coat the top I slightly moved the picture and had to then get it back into place.  Not ideal.

6. Let your canvas picture dry. Then hang your beauty on your gallery wall (you'll see mine to come soon) or where ever your heart desires.  

As always... did you try it?  How'd it go?  Any questions?  I'm all about being honest.  No need for Pinterest Failures here.  

   

DIY Growth Chart Ruler

Everyone grows... why not record the growth?!  (Name that commercial) 

It's the beginning of the new year.  We, and your kids, are all going to grow and learn and change this year.  With all that learning and growing I want to have a memory/record of where my kids were at in 2014.  

I know a lot of people mark the kids growth on the wall.  However, I'm pretty sure we aren't in our forever home, and I want to be able to keep these records of growth even when we move or decide to paint the kitchen yet another time.  

Therefore, a Growth Chart Ruler, basically a piece of wood that looks like a big ruler, we can record our kids heights on was the perfect solution.

I did a little research and found out these Growth Chart rulers are ridiculously expensive ($40 for cheap crappy looking ones and up to $80 for decent ones).  I decided I could make one, and I was pretty sure with a little effort on my part I would save big in the wallet.

Since I learned a few things along the way of my making of an affordable and personalized Growth Chart Ruler I'll share what I learned and save you some time if you are wanting to do something similar. 

First off, this project is cheap.  All in all I didn't have any of the supplies, but it still cost me less than $15 total and it didn't take a lot of active time.  I feel good about $15 for this project since they are ubber expensive online.

What You Need:

• wood, I went with a piece of cheap pine for $6 that was 6 ft. tall x 8 inches wide x 3/4 inches deep.  
• small can of stain and sealer in one, I chose a clear stain b/c I wanted to keep the light natural wood color for the ruler look.
• small 1 inch paint brush.  You can get these for $1 at Walmart.
• black paint pen, I found this at Hobby Lobby in the acrylic section for $3 plus they have 40% off coupons.  I preferred using a small thin paint pen, but a thicker one would come in handy for the numbers if you feel so inclined.
• pencil
• measuring tape
• masking tape
• hand sander and fine sandpaper
• 3 inch stencils found at Hobby Lobby
• Picture hanging Command Strips that hold up to 16 lbs. 

  

 The first step is to sand your board and make it silky smooth.  I decided to try something new and go with the hand sander.  

Seriously, how have I been missing out on the awesomeness of a hand sander for all of these years.  For way too long I have.sanded with a block of wood and a piece of sand paper wrapped around it.  Ghetto I know, but that's how I learned to sand in the hood of Colorado Springs.  However, this bad boy was quick, made the board super smooth, and I got a vibrating hand massage for 15 minutes as I sanded away.

 Next step, pull out your measuring tape and tape it down.  I started at 6 inches so that no matter the baseboard I would always be okay.  Plus, with a tall husband a growth ruler going up to 6'6 was probably necessary.

So, I pulled out the masking tape and taped down the measuring tape at 6 inches, and then again way down at a 6'6.  Obviously, you can start at whatever height you desire.  

 Third, go along and make pencil marks on the edge of the board for every inch. Then, I pulled out a ruler and made my marks 2/8 of an inch thick (1/8 or 1 little dash on your ruler on each side of your initial inch mark) so they would look good with paint. 

Since I wanted the growth ruler to look like a ruler I decided to make the inch mark, 3 inch, 6 inch, 9 inch, and then foot marks different lengths.  I found this made my ruler look great, but if this sounds funny/confusing check out a ruler and you'll understand what I mean with varying length marks.

I ended up going with the following measurements:

• inch marks 1 inch long
• 3 inch and 9 inch marks were 2 inches long
• 6 inch mark is 2.5 inches long
• foot marks are 3 inches long

Finally, I pulled out the stencils to trace the foot numbers 1-6 with a pencil. 

Now, that you have everything in pencil, erase any marks that you won't be covering up with paint.  

However, before you paint you need to use your stain/sealer to do a prior coat.  This will prevent the paint from bleeding.  Stain your wood, and wait at least a couple hours or 24 hours if you can to let the stain dry thoroughly. 

Once the stain is completely dry pull out your paint pen.  Go through and paint all of the dashes as well as numbers.  This actually didn't take as long as I initially thought; it took maybe 20 minutes.  

I bought a fine paint pen and that worked great for the dashes and getting into all of the little crevices along the numbers.  I also bought a wide paint pen that somewhat worked on the numbers.  It made the number painting a little faster, but I'm not sure it was worth the few bucks for the little painting I did with it.

After I was completely satisfied the paint job, I let the board dry.  Again, I think you could wait 24-48 hours and be good.  I actually didn't get to it until a week later b/c there were too many things going on. 

The next to final step is to seal the board again.  Since my stain and sealer were together as a combo I pulled out my little can and sealed away.  This step took me less than 5 minutes to seal.  Now, if you would like a shiny growth chart ruler go with a second coat of stain/seal after the initial top coat has dried for a couple of hours.  However, I was going for a more natural look (hence the clear stain) so I stopped at one top coat. 

With the stain/seal dry I was ready for the final step of hanging the board.  I opted for the quick and damage free walls route.  I had bought some Command Strips that were for hanging pictures up to 16 lbs.  You use 4 strips on the board and 4 four strips on the wall.  We attached the strips to the board, measured and leveled where we wanted to hang it.  Measured and leveled again b/c we didn't want to make a mistake.  We then removed the strips' backing that attaches to the the wall and pressed it against the wall.  As my husband lined up the bottom, I used a level held against the edge of the board to be sure we were really putting it up straight.  We both held and pressed the board into place for about a minute and then we were done. 

It was quick and easy and awesome looking!  Plus it cost about $15 with no more than 2 hours of active time.  Not bad for a DIY activity.  

Making a growth chart ruler was super easy and super fast.  The part that took the longest was letting everything dry in each of the steps.  Often times I just wanted to move to the next step b/c I was so excited with how it was looking, but instead I had to be patient  Darn that dry time!. 

Just remember, Everyone Grows... Why Not Record the Growth?

The first mark of the new year on our growth chart ruler is for a 3 foot tall Olivia, and a 2 feet 8 inches tall Lucas.  My kids LOVE standing in front of the ruler and getting measured.    

It's cute to seem them excited, and I'm so very excited to have a fixture that we can move with us but yet it still keeps track of our kids height.  It's a win-win for everyone.

Yay for cute completed projects.  Now, onto my next one or two projects; a canvas picture gallery wall and a magnetic paint wall are currently in the works/research phases.  However, I do have a couple t-shirt quilts I want to do to.  Ahhh... too many ideas!