Looking for a good way to display your kids' art? I wanted to keep it simple and use a bulletin board but needed a far bigger board than I could find. So, I just bought four standard bulletin boards at the local office supply store and painted the frames black to add some punch. I nailed them to my wall to create the look of one large board. I bought wooden letters at the craft store and painted them with decorative patterns for added interest. I used push pins to stick the letters up at the top of the display. This hangs in the kitchen and gets changed up frequently. It's also a great way to display Christmas cards in Dec.!
I wanted to jazz up my master bath a little but wanted something simple. I decided leaves would be nice.
These are the supplies I used: a leaf, spray adhesive, a foam sanding block, acrylic paint, a paintbrush, styrofoam plates, and oh....and scissors too (not pictured!).
For the leaves, look for a shape you like and be sure the back of the leaf has good texture. Some leaves are much more pronounced in their veining than others!
Once you have a leaf you are happy with, give it a quick spray on the front side with some adhesive.
Next, place the leave on the foam sanding block (or another kind of foam, just so it's something you can cut). Sandwich the leaf and foam between styrofoam plates and pressed firmly.
Cut around the leaf carefully.
Apply some paint. Don't go too thick with it. Experiment by printing it on paper for practice until you are happy with the paint amount.
I had a little wall space in my kitchen that was calling for something fun and friendly. Since I have a little antique desk that fits just right there, a chalkboard seemed the natural choice. The problem was, with such a narrow spot, a chalkboard with the right dimensions was going to be hard to find. I opted to buy a quart of chalkboard paint instead so I could make it just the right size and give it a little character with an interesting shape. I taped off the wall on the three straight sides first, then folded a piece of newspaper in half and cut a wavy shape for the top. When I opened up the paper, it was symmetrical and I just traced it with chalk and painted the chalkboard paint with an artist's brush up along the line to get it just-so. It's become a great spot for messages and of course the kids like to draw on it for fun sometimes too. It's also been a great place to write out the weekly spelling words during the school year!
