Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Raise your hand if somewhere in your house you have a whiteboard. Yep, I thought so, just about everyone. OK, now raise your hand if you think it’s ugly but you need it so you just deal.

White boards are great, there’s no disputing it. When I was first teaching schools were switching from chalkboards to whiteboards. In fact, I remember that I was asked which I wanted in my room my first year. Although there’s something nostalgic and lovely about a chalkboard, they are messy and more work to keep clean and readable. Whiteboards on the other hand, well, their uses are endless. But like I said, not super attractive.

While this doesn’t make a true whiteboard, ie, it’s not white (well, unless you use white fabric) it’s an excellent alternative that allows you to customize the look of the board to go with your home decor. The possibilities are pretty endless when it comes to fabric, paint and frame combinations. But keep in mind that you do need to be able to see what you have written when you’re picking out you’re background.

Here’s what you need:

1 frame, your choice of style, crazy gilt frames are always fun
Paint�
Foam brush
 Fabric at least as big as the frame
Dry erase markers 

Remove the backing board and glass from the frame and give the glass a good scrubbing. Since this is going to be your writing surface, you want to start off free of dust. Set the glass aside to dry and get to work on your frame.

You can, of course, leave the frame as is. In fact, if you bought a brand new frame just for this project, you probably want to keep it as is. But if your frame needs a little love, or maybe just a little spice, give it a coat or two with a good latex paint that coordinates with your fabric. Because I liked the gilt, but not that much gilt, I watered down the paint a little and just gave it a thin coat, allowing the gold to show through a little.

While the frame is drying, cut your fabric just bigger than the backing board. Any fabric, and really any paper, will do for this as long as it’s bigger than the board you are covering. I actually used an old shirt of my husbands because it was just the blue I wanted and as a bonus, had lines, making writing a little neater once the board was finished. If you want a magnetic whiteboard, you’ll need to find a piece of metal also fit to the size of the backing board. Wrap the fabric and secure it with staples, tape or glue, being sure that the surface is smooth and free of wrinkles.

When the glass and frame are dry, reinsert them into the frame and secure with the bendable tabs. Mount on the wall and write away.

Ahhh… Much better.

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