Post It!

When Taylor and I moved into our quaint townhouse, we put whatever we both had up on the walls without much thought put into it.  It was "hmm...this looks good here" and "oh this will fit this wall here".  Then whala, our first place together felt like home!  
One of the pieces we hung was this photo of the Appalachian State versus Delaware championship game in Chatanooga, Tennesse in 2007.

  It's a nice photo, and we didn't have many walls that could hold a photo of this size, so it was one of the pieces that I said "oh this will fit this wall" and so there it was.  At first I was happy about it filling up the large space, but as time passed, I began to brainstorm other ideas that would better fit the wall.   While Pinteresting away, I came across this pin and other similar pins that gave me the brilliant idea to re-purpose my floor length Walmart mirror that was still at my parents house, and make a board that would not only fill the large space because of the mirror's length, but also become useful for us by the back door.  I thought it would be a great way for us to post photos of memories, important dates, or even cute notes to each other that we could see on our way out the door.  
So the crafting began!  Taylor helped me detach the mirror from the frame, and then I spray painted the frame white.  It took about three coats to completely cover every inch of the frame.  Once the paint fully dried, the distressing began.  (I am kind of obsessed with the distressed look these days!)  I took sandpaper from my Dad's barn and lightly distressed areas I thought would look natural.  I got a little carried away with some areas on the frame, but for one of my first distressing adventures, I'm pleased.  Plus, I didn't want to start all over with spray painting.
Once I finished distressing the frame, Taylor helped me attach the chicken wire to the back of the frame using a staple gun.  We used pliers for snapping the wire.  When we finished attaching the chicken wire, I measured the length and width of the frame, adding an inch to my measurements, to figure out how much burlap to cut.  I wanted to be safe because I knew we would start attaching the burlap and come up short.  When I finished cutting the burlap we were on the homestretch.  Taylor stapled the burlap to the back of the frame, and then we were done!  Or at least I thought we were...when I went to hang my new board I quickly realized I needed something to hang it with.  So...Taylor put some hanging hardware on the back of my board and in no time my Walmart floor length mirror turned into a fabulous board that we now use to post memories, wedding announcements (since all of our friends these days are getting hitched), and cute notes to one another.  I couldn't be happier with the way my board turned out! 

(Taylor's mom taught/helped me sew the adorable cushion on the bench!)  Here is a before and after of the cushion...

  Back to the board...I am even working on making another board for a fellow teacher's daughter who just graduated from high school.  She thought this board would be perfect for her daughter's dorm room, and I couldn't agree more.  I can't wait to see how this next board turns out!