November 8, 2008

{ An Attempt at a Tutorial }

I don't usually post on the weekends but, I finished this project last night & was excited to share it with you. I saw some very cute art display thingies in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog & thought I could make them myself. Well, a few years later, I finally decided to just do it. And guess what, they weren't as difficult as I made them out to be in my mind. And I think they turned out pretty cute.

I started with a 1x4 that was 2 feet long & started drilling holes. Okay, not really. There was lots of measuring involved. First I measured where I wanted the big clips to go & drilled small pilot holes for the screws that would hold the clips on. Then I was able to see where the holes would go for hanging it. Now this is where it gets a little tricky. Not because it was too hard, but because I am going to have a hard time explaining it. I found these little wood plugs in the toolbox so I decided that I wanted to hide the screws used to hang it. First I drilled a hole the size of the screw. Big enough for it to slip right in without having to screw it in but, not too big. You don't want the screw head to go through. Then I used a bigger drill bit {the size needed for the wood plug} & taped off how deep I wanted to drill. You don't want to drill all the way through, of course, but deep enough to make room for the screw head & the wood plug to fit into it. I used electrical tape because that's all I could find. It worked well & came off easily when I was finished. Phew! I hope that all makes sense.

Then I spray painted them white. They would be cute in a fun color as well.

Here are the big clips I used. They are about $5 for two. Yikes! I had a hard time with that price. That's one of the reasons it took me so long to get started on this project.

To attach the clips to the board you need to get screws that have a larger head than the hole on the clips.

By the way, this is what Peanut & Boo did while I was tinkering in the garage. Sitting at the end of the driveway, talking & eating yummy fudgesicles on a nice, warm California autumn day. Perfect!

And here's the finished project! I made two but, if you had a longer wall, you could use a longer board with 5 clips. I'm sorry for the lame attempt at the tutorial. I had a hard time explaining it. But I love how they turned out & the girl's think it's pretty nifty too.

My hubby wasn't as impressed as I was of myself. He already thinks I can do anything. :)

5 comments:

Mamacita said...

I knew you could do it. I can't wait to see what you do next. Keep up the good work and the sharing.

AJ said...

Ok, here is just a little insight as to how lame I am. When I saw that my BFF made these about 4 years ago I just HAD to copy. I bought all the supplies, painted, searched and searched for decent clips...AND still have yet to finish them! We have since moved and I would need to repaint the boards to match my girls' rooms. Oh well! Yours turned out great! They are convenient too!

Laurie Anne said...

They turned out great. I also saw those in the PB kids catalog and thought "I bet I could make those".
I might just have to send DH to the store for some supplies.
Thanks for the inspiration :0)

Bethie - Chic Junque said...

Boy, aren't you crafty! Cute project and good job! I love using power tools, they make you feel productive!

RSM Text Factor Gurus said...

Can I hire you to make one of those for me?