My New Teal Wood Grain Memo Board!

Lately, I've been playing around a lot with KaiserCraft goodies... extending myself "Beyond The Page" to make cute decorative pieces for my home. Their MDF products are perfect for it too! I've wanted a cute little memo board for my kitchen for the longest, but couldn't find one that truly fit my style. When I saw the KaiserCraft bracket frame, I knew it was perfect to create my own memo board... a teal wood grain memo board.

Used: KaiserCraft bracket frame, KaiserCraft KaiserColour in tropical water and antique white, Ikea fabric, Whisker Graphics baker's twine, Lara's Crafts dowel cap 1 1/8" (found at local Michael's, but can also be found here online), Lara's Crafts small clothespins (also found at local Michael's), Fishs Eddy's mini salt shaker, Mod Podge; miscellaneous: heart buttons, tacks, woodgrainer comb, paint comb, painter's tape

Displayed: Fuji Instax instant photo (love),
Jillibean corrugated heart, My Little Shoebox woodsy pattern paper, American Crafts Lizzy celebrate sunshine stamp

I loved how it turned out and hope you do too! Here's how I made it and some tips & techniques.

Painting the frame:

1. Apply 4-5 layers of your base color directly on the frame, letting each layer to dry for about 5-10 minutes each. Your base color should be the lighter color since light on top of dark won't "grain" as well as dark on light. Since I chose my wood grain pattern to be comprised of teal (KaiserColour in tropical water) and antique white (KaiserColour in antique white), antique white would be the base color. Tip 1: I suggest 4-5 layers for the base color because likely it is less opaque and will take more applications to saturate the whole surface. Tip 2: Also, since the surface is fairly smooth, using brushes would show brush marks. So instead, I picked up a handy Whizz touch up and trim kit from a local Lowes (it comes with 2" roller, tray and 2" high density foam roller cover) to apply the paint. It worked like a charm and NO brush strokes! Best part, you can actually reuse everything with a good rinse in warm water. After some usage, you'll just need to replace the foam roller cover.
2. Seal the first color by applying 2 glossy Mod Podge layers and let dry overnight so that all previous layers harden. Tip: By using glossy Mod Podge, you create a slick layer so it's smoother as you push the second color later.
3. Tape areas where you want to keep as the base color with painter's tape. I wanted the beveled inner and outer trims to remain antique white. Tip: To seal the rounded areas, just cut smaller pieces of tape to follow the curvature of the shape.
   
4. Using a cheap chip brush, apply the second pattern color fully on the surface. While the color is still wet and glistening, use a woodgrainer or a comb to drag the wet paint and apply the wood pattern. Tip: Most woodgrainers are pretty large in width (because they're usually for large surfaces such as walls or furniture) and the surface of this frame is too small to fully optimize the pattern. So instead, I used a combination of paint comb drag and a toothpick! Yep, a simple tooth pick broken in half, taking the broken side drags paint just as well. I created a smaller eye in the upper right corner with this technique.
5. Finally, seal one more time with a coat or two of Mod Podge.

Creating the clothespin line:

1. Use two wooden dowel caps. You can also use thread spools or cute knobs. I painted the wooden dowel caps and adhered it to the frame using more Mod Podge. (Love that stuff!) Tip: If you decide to go with another wooden item to hold the ends of your clothesline, use a takeout chopstick and a large glue dot to hold the wooden item in place as you paint it so you don't get paint all over your fingers as you paint around it.
2. Using a string of baker's twine, long enough to more than double the distance between the clothesline ends, tie a knot and then twist the twine until you get the desired tension and drop, then hang the ends on the "knobs". Tip: With this technique, you can change out the clothesline whenever you want a change! You can use jute, ribbon, embroidery floss... the possibilities are endless!

Other decorative elements:

• Wrap fabric around a thick layer of foam to create the inner area for tacking. Tip: You can also use cork board squares, but I chose to use fabric over foam so that I can also easily slip sheets of paper (in this case, an Instax photo) to the side of the frame because the foam although is thick, has give that corkboard doesn't have.
  
• Create button tacks by simply apply flat back buttons to flat top tacks.
  
• I wanted the memo board to almost be like mini desk in the middle of my kitchen, so I added a mini "vase" to it. The "vase" is a mini salt shaker from one of my fave stores here in NYC, Fishs Eddy. To keep the clarity of the glass, I adhered it with Mod Podge. Tip: You can also add other "storage" elements to the frame, if you're not a flower person, by adhering a small tin box (to store a small sewing kit or matches) or another mini frame/bunch of mini frames instead (so you can interchange even more photos). How cute would these be running down the side of a memo board?
• Do the flowers look familiar? They're crepe paper roses from my previous tutorial here.

I have to say I'm totally loving this frame because it's a memo board but it can also be a picture frame! I love functional and versatility! Currently, I'm using it more as a frame.

So what do you think?

And lastly but certainly not least, I wanted to thank Julie of Julie's Open Window for linking me as one of the 'new blogs you must see'! It's always so exciting to see support and encouragement from the craft community as a rookie blogger like myself!

Until the next post!
- KRAFTY pearl

Thanks for linking: