DIY Week: Beachy bulletin board.

So this is one of those projects that involved a lot of trial and error. Sometimes that's just the case when you're trying to invent something from scratch with no manual. What I intended as a chunky, beach-style picture frame ended up as a bulletin board. But hey, I learned a lot along the way!

I started out with a square piece of plywood. Did you know that if you buy a large piece of plywood at Lowe's they'll cut it for you for 25 cents per cut? How helpful is that!

I ended up with 4 16x16" pieces of plywood and a little left over that will be perfect for another sign one of these days.


First I sanded the edges just a little, then primed it using a spray paint primer. And because it was already white, I just left it. No need to paint white over white.


I then decided I wanted some stripes. I made sure the primer was dry and I taped it off into 3-inch stripes using masking tape. I then painted the stripes a light tan color.



When I pulled off the tape, this is what I had. (I then added one more stripe to the very bottom to make it even.)


And this is where things went downhill. Quickly.
I planned on adding a little piece of plexiglass with a picture behind it, but could not figure out for the life of me how to attach it. So I nixed that idea, and decided I'd just tape the picture with a border around it onto the wood and that just looked tacky. So I went "shopping" in my craft room and came out with an empty square frame, some twine, and a little wood flourish I bought probably 2 years ago, hoping to make something out of all of it.

I was able to attach the twine inside the empty picture frame like so:


Then I glued the little wood piece to the top of the frame right in the middle:


I then glued the frame right onto the wood.



I grabbed some clothespins and pictures and I had made a bulletin board! Not at all what I had planned, but good enough. My final step was to drill a small hole in the back to hang it from a nail.




It's now hanging in our bathroom, and I think instead of filling it with so much I may just print one large black and white picture and hang it inside.

Any other suggestions? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!