I mean, other than my children constantly (and loudly) deciding they wanted to go find the adult *other* than the one they were currently with, and Mikayla insisting on magenta chevron for her bedroom curtains.
With my kids being chaperoned around the store, leaving trails of Ritz crumbs where'er they ventured (a modern-day Hansel and Gretel), and little Oliver in a sleepy, feverish haze (sorry, third-born, the world continues to turn when you're not feeling well), I set out to make some serious decisions.
My object: a pretty, non-chevron gray print for the bulletin board and a few other accent items, a colorful fabric for cloth napkins, decorative buttons.
My favorite part was spending the kids' 25 cheerful/this-is-fun minutes trying to locate the home decor fabrics in appropriate colors, and then attempting to narrow down and price my options only after meltdown/we-ate-all-the-crackers phase commenced. You think that parents have ragamuffin homes because the kids make a mess and "we can't have nice things"; however, the truth is that we end up with pillowcases over the windows and mismatched lampshades half-cocked because our children have finely-tuned radar for those decision-making moments. Nothing like mentally coordinating colors in the midst of a toddler hurricane. You'd think I would have learned from my misadventures at Hobby Lobby?
Anyway, you are not here for the disclaimers, you are here for the art, the style, the reveal. I know your heart, friend. Without further ado, I give you The Process! Tutorials for no-sew bulletin boards are a dime a dozen on Pinterest, and I didn't really use one anyway, so please assume I am not stealing anyone's ideas by not providing a link. Behold, my blank canvas:
First, cutting my fabric with the rotary cutter and mat that have changed my life (do I say that every time I use it? Yes, yes I do.). Isn't it pretty?
With all my careful measuring, I did an awesome job of making it the right size and perfectly square. Not actually. The size was decent, but the pattern is regular enough that it was obviously crooked on my cut piece. I had to straighten it on the board, using my see-through straight edge to line up the pattern straight across, and then trimmed the edges. Needless to say, it was not nice and neat when it was all said and done.
What do you do when your edges stink? RIBBON! I had considered edging with this ribbon anyway, to match it to last week's wreath, but my pristine cut-job made it inevitable. Phew.
For a finishing touch, I gorilla glued buttons to
The twine you see along the upper edge? Well. I noticed after hanging it up that gravity kinda affected the hang of my board. Namely, the top of the frame pulled up slightly, revealing unfinished cork board between the ribbon and the frame. I had already ribboned myself out of one predicament, so that was out. The twine gives it a down-to-earth feel and coordinates it even more with grapevine wreath next door. Right?? Haha.
And voila, all finished:
You might notice that one of my beloved children has also forayed into the wonderful world of interior design, in the form of abstract dry erase marker art. If you think that's snazzy, you should see the mural going the entire way up my stairs and embellishing my bedroom mirror. One of these afternoons I will be up to my elbows in Magic Eraser juice. Really looking forward to that.
For now, though, it's onward and upward to my next projects: increasing our collection of everyday cloth napkins, and pondering how to fancify (apparently not a word, per autocorrect changing it three tea before giving up) my dining room chalkboard.
I'm also contemplating another refashion sewing project. Just waiting for the right inspiration to come along...
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