DIY Notice Board

A couple weeks ago I popped my crafting hat on and made myself a notice board for the flat. We needed somewhere to put things like upcoming gig tickets, photo booth pictures and wedding invites etc. so they didn’t just pile up and eventually get lost. I’ve been wanting to make one for a while but couldn’t find a frame I liked for the price I wanted anywhere. One lunchtime I popped into one of the local charity shops and there is was, a lovely big frame in a pale turquoise, it had a pretty ugly oil painting in it and a few scuffs around it and was the bargain price of £4.99.

Once I got it home I pulled the tacks holding the canvas out at the back and took the old hanging string off too. I was thinking about sanding and repainting it but once I gave it a wee clean with some hot soapy water it looked fine. This is when the real crafting comes in.

For the notice board you will need…

One large frame.
Backing paper (Wrapping paper or posters are idea.)
Nice string or twine.
Staple gun. (Borrowed from my manager.) 
Teeny tiny pegs.

Once you have your frame in a state you are happy with have a play about with your string and decide what kind directions you’d like it to go in, I went with a simple diagonally across design. Once you are happy with what you like then grab that staple gun and attached the string at your top starting corner, leave a good 5 cm-7 cm tail. With that excess you should staple it to the back of the frame, fold it back over the staple and staple it down again (see photo below).

I found that the edge of my frame was going to be too thin to staple into because you’d see it come through on the front so I attached it to the adjacent side. Carry on that way down both sides of the frame making sure to keep the string taught and secure it at the bottom like you did at the top. 

Next you either want to cover the original picture, like me, or attached you backing paper to the frame. I used mini duckling tape by Duck Tape and some double sided tape. The paper I used was from Paperchase and is slightly larger than the frame, I'd recommend that you use nothing too jazzy as this will distract from what you put on your notice board. Once you've covered the picture you can reattach it to the frame, I just used the staple gun again for this (I really need my own one). 

Flip it around and you should have a pretty cool notice board. You can add extra decorations like my scrabble tiles that I got from local haberdashery Thread and Heather to spell out The Clubhouse, which is what we call the flat, or you could string some fairy lights over it or glue on some buttons. Once you are happy with it then hang it on your wall and add you favorite things with the tiny pegs.

DIY Cake Stand

This weekend I managed to find a wee bit of time to myself! I had an itch for some crafting and I had been planning to make a cake stand for a while. Last Monday I had finally found the plate I wanted to use as the top of the stand after months trawling through charity shops. In the end I found it in Marks and Spencer’s in their Picnicware section, it’s a melamine antique floral dinner plate. The whole range is stunning and durable, which is very handy for butter fingers here. For the base I wanted to use an Edinburgh Crystal champagne saucer that I had picked up in a charity shop to decorate the Christmas table a couple of years ago.

My glass and plate

This is a very simple craft project, all you need is: 

A glass of your choice – any style will work

A plate that is big enough to hold a good sized cake

Super glue

A pencil

Something to cover your work surface

So cover your work surface because the last thing you want to do is super glue something to your dining table, I just used old newspaper. Pop your plate face down on the table and position the base of your glass in the centre and use the pencil to drawer around the edge or it.

Centre the plate

Next carefully open the super glue and gently squeeze the tube around the inside of your pencil outline. Pop the base of the glass back on top of the glue, be very careful at this point as super glue dries very fast and you don’t want a wonky cake stand. I also put a little extra glue around the outside for the glass base for a really strong hold. Leave the glue to cure for at least an hour before moving it, it will take up to 24 hours to dry completely so I’d wait before popping a freshly baked Victoria Sponge on it!

Leave it to dry over night

Once it’s fully dried then flip it over and Tah Dah! you have beautiful and unique cake stand to impress your guests with! I'm totally in love with mine and planning to get my bake on this weekend! 

My finished cake stand