#9: Be good at making a craft - Show off board

In mid February I became the permanent substitute at a school that I have been subbing at for a long time.  I'll be helping with the brand new testing program and after Spring Break I'll be the new 5th grade long term teacher for the rest of the year!  I'm super excited and nervous, but this is exactly what I needed to keep my spirits up.

Now that I'm working, I no longer have the luxury of making crafts and doing things that I wanted to do on my list, at least at the intensity that I wanted.  I'm still getting stuff done though!  Working on #9 off my satisfaction list-Be good at making a craft.  Check it out!

I know, I know, I didn't take pictures while I made it, but it was one of those projects I just decided to do on a whim.  This is for when my girls are old enough and come home with cute little projects they do in class and have it on display as opposed to leaving it in their book bags.  

What you need:

• display board from any craft store (in the wood section)
• paint and paint brushes
• a stencil (optional)
• velcro
• clothespins
• black sharpie

Note:  My board is very different from some that are in circulation on Pinterest.  I have 2 daughters.  I was NOT about to make one board for each child due to not wanting to clutter our walls.  My daughters have designated colors; Scarlett has red (duh), and Simone has purple (themed peacock room). 

1.  I painted my board with paint that I already had lying around the house (remember, shoestring budget).  I used the pink that I painted my daughter's room with.

2.  I bought 2 small bottle paint of my desired color and a stencil.  

Tape stencil in desired spot and paint over with two coats.  I would have a tiny paintbrush on hand to fix where colors bled passed stencil.  

3.  I went on Microsoft publisher and typed out what I wanted to put on the board.  After choosing the size and font, I mirrored the lettering so it was backwards and printed.

4.  I laid the printed side on top of the board (it will look like the writing is correct), and took a paintbrush and wet the paper with water.  

Here's a tutorial on how to do that:

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2011/11/who-knew.html?scrlybrkr=f49605aa

5.  I used the end of the sharpie pen to rub the wording into the board.  I was half expecting all the ink to be on my board, but it's only faint remnants of what was rubbed off the paper. 

6.  I then traced the faint wording that was on my board with the sharpie and colored it in.  I then wrote my daughter's names in the big birds.

7.  I painted my clothespins to match the girl's color.  Each girl will have 2 pins, but if you're doing this for one child, then you can put more pins and don't have to paint the pins at all (if you don't want to).  

7.  I cut small pieces of velcro and placed one side onto the bottom of my board and placed the other side of the velcro to the clothespins.  This way your child can remove the pin, clip it on to their art, and place the pin back on the board.  

THAT'S IT!  It's super cute and there are many ways to do this for your home.