Two things have recently happened. First, I was looking at buying a dry erase board for my husband's office for work (he works at home and requested one for brain-storming/flow-charting and other things). If you've looked at the store for a decent sized dry erase board (not a junky one that is so light it falls off the wall when you breathe), you may have noticed they get pricey fast - 24" x 14" = $54.99. Um, that's more than I was planning on spending, for something not that big.
Second, I've recently started writing notes to myself on my closet door mirror in my bedroom. Important things, that I need to see first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed. Dry erase markers work great on glass, and I think I actually prefer it to a dry erase board because there will never be ghosting if you leave something up too long.
These two things, floating around in my brain simultaneously, slammed into each other one day and I made something out of it! Using things I had mostly laying around, I created an awesome dry erase board, it's actually one of my most favorite things in my office right now! So here goes.
You need:
- A good sized picture frame & glass to fit
- Spraypaint (if you want to paint your frame)
- Fabric of choice, a piece big enough to cover the area inside frame
- Trace paper or vellum
- Hot glue & glue gun
- Glazier points
The frame I started with had no back, glass, or way to hold the back and glass in. It was an old frame, in a not so pretty color, from some art I reframed. I spray painted it with a primer and a plum color that coordinates with my fabric. I purchased a piece of glass at my favorite home improvement store. It was a little more than $4 for a 16"x20" piece, but if your frame already has glass you're set. I also cut a backer board out of some left over mat board I had from a previous framing project. After your frame, glass and backer are ready to go, lay out your fabric, with the backer board on top to use as a template, and cut a piece of fabric with a 1" to 2" border on every side.
After the corners are glued tight, follow with the four sides, again gluing opposite sides first and smoothing the fabric to make sure there are no wrinkles. Set the fabric board aside.
Mine didn't, :( - so I used glazier points to hold everything together. Hang it all up on the wall, and write away!
This is what a glazier point looks like. They're usually used to hold the glass into old single pane windows.
If you want the full boldness of your fabric, or if your fabric is more neutral, you can skip the vellum/trace paper. I needed something to mute my patterned fabric so I could see what was written on my dry erase board.
This isn't a good photo - it is night, and I have very poor lighting in here, but here's my board hung on the wall!
