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Bulletin Board – Thrifty Thursday – Worth Saving!

As part of the Bloggers without Borders challenge, I decided to take on my office for some DIY projects this summer. I rearranged the space, but as of yet, I hadn’t made any bold changes to the decor.

A couple weeks back (or months?) I scored a HUGE bulletin board at a yardsale for $1. The tag said $2… but it never hurts to ask! Turns out the homeowner would rather negotiate a buck off than haul that big ol’ corkboard back in the house at the end of the day. …and for good reason – This thrifty find jusssst barely fit in the back of my car!

Told ya it was big!

I taped off the trim and that’s how it sat…. for weeks…. I couldn’t decide on a color… or a design… or ANYTHING.

So it sat…

and sat…

until this past SATurday!

I was doing some manic cleaning in a moment of insanity. (Sidenote – I hate cleaning, but man I feel better after it’s done!) Anywho… while I was cleaning I came across a vinyl wall decal I bought several years ago. I’d forgotten ALL about it. .. tucked away in the basement (along with enough other items to single-handedly have my own neighborhood block-party yard sale!).

I’m pretty sure I bought this decal before I’d even closed on my house… which means it’s over 2.5 years old. Wow! (Can you say hoarder?)

Anywho, here’s the down and dirty on how I cranked this project out:

Tape off the edges of the bulletin board.
Following the packaging directions, position the decal on the corkboard. Realize you’ll need to extend the decal a bit and grab some strips of painter’s tape.
Sketch out the branch on painter’s tape.
Use an exacto knife to cut the branch out.
Paint over the entire bulletin board with paint leftover from my bedroom (free supplies!). Two coats was perfect.

I came back to check on the second coat of paint, only to find Quinn snuggled up with the board. Without thinking, I said her name and she jumped up. Thank goodness it was tacky/dry enough on that side to not leave pawprints! In the second pic below, you can see the vinyl decal under the blue paint.

After chasing Quinn off the board, I peeled off the decal and painter’s tape, leaving exposed cork beneath!

Finally, I gave the border wood a quick two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White. High-fives to NO sanding and surface prep!

Well? What do you think!? Want to see a before and after?

This could be a fun way to dress up bulletin boards in all sorts of rooms! What about a vinyl decal in the shape of a chandelier or tiara – PERFECT for a teen girl’s room. Boys room? There are plenty of “boy” decals too!

Bulletin board – $1
Paint – Leftover from previous projects
Decal – Purchased 2+ years ago on clearance at Jo-Anns for under $4.50!

Not bad for just over $5.50! I can’t wait to take it in and hang it up. I think it’ll be a great pop of color in my office!

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A Finishing Touch for Roxy’s Bed

October 28, 2011 in Bedrooms, Building and Repurposing, Do it your Dog-Gone Self, Furniture Makeovers, Pups

Confession – I’ve been sitting on this for a while now. Seems I’m BAD about that. I buy (aka hoard) when I find a great deal and then things sit until I get a sudden burst of motivation. Case in point:

I bought a cute vinyl decal on clearance at Michaels MONTHS ago. At the time, I thought I would find an old board to put it on or stick it directly to the wall above my window. The longer the decal sat on my dresser (see! I didn’t even put it away!), the less I liked the idea. I thought paint would look better on an old board and I was afraid the decal would be too small for the scale of the window.

But wait – Plan B (or C?) – What about putting it on Roxy’s bed that I built earlier this year? I held the decal up to the front of the bed and it was a PERFECT fit. Don’t you just love when things work out like that?! So of course I did just what you’re expecting, right….. put it on Roxy’s bed while I had it out? WRONG. I put it back on the dresser for another few weeks. (I swear, I have a problem!)

Fast forward to today… Finally got motivated. Took me long enough! While my Mom may not be nearby to make me clean my room, I still do just fine throwing a fit about it alllllll by myself! I put my big girls pants on, dug through the MOUNTAIN of laundry and made my way to the dresser. After reading the instructions twice (I’m a decal newbie) I slapped that bad boy on the bed! (there might be a better way to say that… but let’s just roll with it)

Yup… that’s a dog bed in the kitchen. Normal? Nope. But it was the best natural light I could find thanks the the skylight.

It’s definitely NOT perfect… but it was the third thing I ever built… so I’m pretty happy with it.

The bed was strategically sized to perfectly fit a couple of cheap $2.50 bed pillows at Walmart… which strategically fit in el cheapo waterproof pillow covers.

I love that it looks hand-painted. I think it goes well with the look of the bed.

Roxy likes to make sure EVERYONE knows it’s HER bed.

…and fair warning. You could probably stop scrolling now… because all you’re going to get now are pictures of Cutie Patootie Roxy with the bed in its normal spot….

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Still scrolling? Okay! You’ve been warned. Here are ~~a few~~ too many pictures of Roxy lounging in “her spot” in the bedroom:

That’s a water bowl to her right. If Queen Roxy wakes up in the middle of the night and wants something to drink, she’ll pace around the bed and growl until I get up and get it. So filling HER water bowl is MY sleep aid.