DIY Chevron Bulletin Frame

 

Hey everyone!

So I know it may seem all I update are picture frames, but when I saw my stash of forgotten cork board squares I had to claim another. I mean, these cork board squares are at least three years old so why not?

I grabbed one of the squares and a frame that housed our fall bucket list. It has sat unused in my basement ever since. *blush* It would be nice to redo another thrift store frame and save a good white one, but I didn't have any older ones big enough.

After popping out the old bucket list, I used the glass as a guide for cutting my cork board. It helps if you score it a few times with the X ACTO knife instead of trying to cut all the way through. You are then left with a perfect 8x10 (or whatever size you are cutting) with no frayed edges.

Let's be honest at this point. I enjoy scrapbooking. I have a Silhouette Cameo that cuts all different kinds of shapes. It only made sense to have the machine cut the chevron for me. I wasn't about to measure if I didn't have to! Math is not my strong point.

I decided to make a vinyl stencil so all I'd have to do is apply it to the cork and paint in the negatives. Making vinyl stencils are super easy and super fast. If you don't have a silhouette machine and are pretty artistic or handy I am sure you could find an image online and trace it onto the vinyl. Then use your X acto knife to cut around the image.

Once my stencil was finished I used my X acto knife to weed out the negative part of the image. Since we aren't dealing with letters, I just tossed the pieces aside.

Most people who craft with vinyl are smart enough to buy more transfer tape than vinyl itself so they never run out. I am not one of those people. I never seem to buy enough transfer tape and instead I am left with using Frog Tape. It works just the same. Actually, I am smart. This saves so much more money so HA to the vinyl companies out there. :)

After covering my image with the Frog Tape I "burnished" the edges with my fingers. All that means is pressing down real hard. A credit card works great in this situation, but so do fingers! After that's finished gently lift the tape off of the vinyl backing and it should come up pretty smoothly.

I don't have a picture of this step but once I placed the image on my piece of cork I "burnished" the whole image so it would stick to the surface. When removing the tape its best if you do it at an angle. If you see the vinyl is sticking to the tape and not the surface change your direction and move slower. Since cork isn't a smooth surface you sometimes have to change your direction a few times!

Acrylic paint is perfect for these types of projects. I wanted a gray color but since I don't have gray I went elementary and brought out white and black. If you do this, make sure you mix more than what you assume would be enough. The cork sucks up a lot of the paint and its hard getting the same color if you have to mix another batch. I may or may not know that from this project.

This is how your project will look. I heart vinyl stencils, they sure make for crisp lines... if you burnish real well! Before the paint dries it's best to remove the vinyl. Just be careful the wet part of the vinyl doesn't touch the unpainted part of the cork!

Once it is dry just put it back in the frame! I decided to display a few Instagram (avillarreal140) pictures in mine for now. I think it'd also be cute to display earrings or on it's own in a space that needs more texture.

*I like these cork squares because I remember them being pretty cheap. However, if you make this project to display pictures or memos I recommend doubling up on the cork. It is pretty thin and with one piece the push pins will be exposed in the back!

Thanks for visiting!

Amanda

Linking up with Yellow Bliss Road!