ShareThisI'm a huge fan of flea markets and tag sales. Wandering through one is like shopping for groceries in an open-air farmers market, where any moment you can find an extra-special ingredient that will make a standard recipe unique.
Take frames, for instance. For many people, a frame isn't worth keeping if the glass is broken or if they don't like the image inside it anymore. Thank goodness, I say, because these folks make it easier for you and me to find a gorgeous secondhand frame to make a bulletin board (that ordinary office staple) so pretty it can double as wall art.
Gather:
A fascinating frame
Cardboard
Scissors
Heavy fabric
Staple gun
Duct tape
Eye hooks and hanging wire (optional)
Thumbtacks
Little embellishments
Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
Create:
1. Cut the cardboard to be slightly smaller than the outer edge of the frame.
2. Stretch the fabric around the cardboard and staple it into place.
3. Tape the fabric-covered cardboard to the back of the frame.
4. If your frame does not have a hanging wire, screw an eyehook into each side of the frame (near the top), string the wire through them and wrap the wire ends to secure.
5. To create unique pushpins, hot-glue small embellishments to the tops of your thumbtacks.
For my bulletin board, I used vintage fabric, but any home decor or upholstery fabric should be heavy enough to work well. I also used a vintage frame, but you can achieve beautiful results by improvising with any frame you want to use. To embellish the tacks, I used millinery flowers, but old jewelry, acorn tops, little shells and buttons would work great, too.
(Dena Fishbein is the designer and artist behind many of the home-decor products found at your favorite stores. To ask her how to embellish anything, e-mail her at dena(at)denadesigns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com.)
Hobbies
