DYI, ANYONE?

Aside from the traveling, art making and napping...I have completed a few DYI projects that I am pretty happy with and wanted to share.  Some I was able to complete by myself, some I needed some help from friends, but they are all very do-able and pretty low-cost...and most importantly I LOVE them!  It's really starting to feel like home in our new place.  A very CREATIVE home!

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Poor bulletin board...you need a makeover!

Covered Bulletin Board
I have had the same cheapo bulletin board for years.  Now that I have my own dedicated art space I wanted to dress it up a little.  My studio area is mostly white- trying to keep it nice and neat (for now) I am adding some black and white graphic accents here and there, and I thought that a chevron pattern was just what this bulletin board needed for a new look...and on a budget, of course!

Supplies:

•  Bulletin Board, Fabric (at least 2-3 inches larger on each side than BB)
  
• Staple Gun
  
•  Fun Ribbon (I mean…why would you use something boring?)
  
•  Decorative Flat Push Pins
  

Directions:

1. Place fabric on floor.
   
2.  Put bulletin board down, centered on top of fabric, face down.
   
3.  Fold fabric over the edge and secure with staple gun.  Treat the corners like the edges of a present and give an extra staple to help secure the extra fabric.
   
4. Turn it over, stretch ribbon along corners, wrap around edges staple onto back.
   
5. Add decorative flat push pins on top of the ribbon.

...and that's it!  I had a fun little 'BELIEVE' sign I have had for years that I added to the top.  The rails, cups and S-hooks are all from IKEA...so far I LOVE them!  Perfect for pens and other items that I want to have access to but I don't want cluttering up my flat work spaces.

1) Menfolk (can also be womenfolk, but you will DEFINITELY need at least one set of extra hands 2) the finished board with pegs I ordered from Amazon 3)...necklaces, hung up in color order!

Pegboard for Necklaces
Next up...dealing with my necklace collection.  In the past I have always just used push pins, however, the collection is growing and I wanted to upgrade my organization.  So...I decided on a pegboard!

Supplies:

• Peg board
• Msc. tools and wood pieces for the frame
• Husband and friend of husband...look, I am pretty handy...but I had to call in some help on this one!  

Directions:

1. Have husband and friend of husband put up your pegboard.
2. Order the peg fixtures while they put up the board.
3. Hang necklaces according to color, of course! 

...me, marveling my talented friend Giselle and her cool machine...some of the decals..'do something CREATIVE everyday', above my studio window...my best friends initials by the shelf and pictures I have hanging up to remember her...msc. fun decals, like this 'love' decal, under some of our pictures

Wall Decals
Another thing that I wanted to do in the new place was to add some wall decals here and there.  Again, for this I needed help, so I enlisted the aid of my beautiful friend Giselle of GS Makeup Artistry, in exchange for help painting a wall in her studio.  She even threw in homemade beef stew...definitely NOT an even trade!  Wow!

Supplies:

• Some ideas for words/quotes
• Awesome friend with a Sillouette machine for creating custom stencils and such. 
  

Directions:

1. Have said friend walk you through the entire process. 
2. Nod, knowing that you are already forgetting how to do it.
3. Help with trimming, taking off the extra vinyl, whatever she needs! (i.e. help her paint a wall!)

I seriously LOVE my new wall decals.  One of my favorite areas that I used them was my 'art wall' above our tv.  Makes me smile every time I sit down and look at 'em!

'truth' and 'inspire' wall decals incorporated in to our art wall, which included some of my work, works by artists I admire, etc.