Half a year ago(?), I became a daily reader of Design*Sponge. I was amazed by all the tutorials and the wealth of information on the internet on home improvement. Home renovation and improvement used to be closed doors for me, accessible only by professionals. I can say that my eyes were opened to a whole new world.
I continued to discover and seek more blogs and I realized that I've only seen the tip of the iceberg. The blogosphere is amazingly vast and wide. There are countless blogger Moms or blogger power couples who have audiences in the hundred thousands per month who make blogging their careers. If I wanted to, I can find a new blog to follow every day.
After reading countless precise step-by-step tutorials, I find that many projects are not out of reach. They are things I can try! Joanns and Michael's became my favorite stores. I even started to like Lowe's & Home Depot. I feel so liberated to be able to buy something like fabric.
I remember standing in line for my first purchase of cut fabric at Joanns and felt so proud. Not the stuffy kind of pride, but the exuberant, giddy pride as if you are watching your baby take his first steps. (Well, I wouldn't know. That's how I imagine Mothers would feel anyway). I was stepping into a brand new territory and I was loving it.
My first project was this set of memo boards for our office using artist canvas, fabric, batting, ribbon and brads. It sounds complicated, but it's really not.
After I made these, I was seriously considering switching careers and doing something like this for a living. (Ha, I have the idealism of a 16-yo.) I liked it a whole lot better than my day job. Maybe I can sell memo boards on etsy.com? But my rational voice warned me not to be too hasty and make a hobby (a brand new one, no less) into a career.
I'm glad I didn't jump ship. Keeping my hobby as a hobby gives me necessary sanity. And practically, I'll never make close to the same amount of money if I open an etsy store. I'll probably work more, too. So, I'm content with having my current career and having a hobby I enjoy.
You cut a piece of fabric to size (depending on the size of your board) and also cut some batting to size (I use the leftovers from my memo board project). Then you simply staple them to the back of the cork board. To add a bit of flair, I used Fabric Tac and glued ivory satin ribbons (leftover from our wedding) to create a border. I also got some pretty pearl push pins.
The effect it had on our guest room was impressive. It really lightened up the whole space as if the dark brown had been weighing it down all along. The best part was except for the pearl push pins, I didn't buy anything else for this project.
Then there are projects like stenciling walls, which I'm still trying to live through. I really hope I live to tell the tale on that one as it's currently my most trying project to date. I'm glad I didn't do this as a first project. Otherwise, I would've long given up on this whole DIY thing.
Of course, there are tons of things I can't wait to try. Like distressing a piece of furniture with paint and sand blocks. I have plans for that on a magazine rack I picked up at Goodwill for $3.50 the other day.