Being a creator of headbands, you can just about imagine how many headbands I have for my own baby girl! I'm not gonna lie, it's a little ridiculous! And up until now, they'd been piled up in a little wicker basket in her room for no one to see....oh, the
horror!!!! Sooo....I wanted to come up with something ultra chic on which to display them in her room!
While you could always just hang hooks directly to the wall, I wanted something a bit more artsy and part of the room decor. So I decided to turn some
ultra ugly old cupboard doors (yes, a plural here - we need TWO boards to hold all hers! Ha!) into awesome displays/pieces of art for her walls {yes!
upcycling at its finest!}. My first step was heading to a salvage warehouse here in Phoenix. And much to my liking, I snatched up two super ugly cupboard doors for like 5 bucks each! SCORE! And while they were obviously from the same kitchen cupboards, they are NOT an exact match - one is from a horizontal opening door, and the other, a vertical. I actually love this aspect - matching but not
too "matchy-matchy"!!
So here's what you need to
{create your own headband board holder}:
*old cupboard door (or maybe get a few to make at the same time - these would not only make for fantastic gifts, but also be great for your own room - I'm wishing now I would have gotten more to hold my necklaces!)
*spray paint in color/s of choice
*lace
*hot glue gun
*hammer & nails
*decorative hooks
*fabric
*sandpaper
*cloth (to wipe clean)
*newspaper/kraft paper (large) for overspray of spray paint
*mounting hook/s
*spackle (optional)
1. Once you have your {cupboard} doors, you'll need to sand them down a little. Not to completely remove the paint -- just to rough them up a little so that they can hold new paint on top. So
give them a good sanding (you might want to wear gloves and a mask for this - especially if working with old doors, as it may have lead paint on it!), then wipe clean.
2.I also had to fill in a couple holes in my cupboard with some
nail hole filler (a.k.a. spackle) at this point. If you found old cupboard doors, you may have to do the same, if they happened to have handles on them before. So if you do, do that now, and let dry (about 10 minutes).
3. Okay, now we're
ready to {spray} paint! So I wanted to make the inset part of my boards a different color than the border {This is one reason in particular why I LOVE using cupboard doors for this project - because it already has a nice "frame" for your creation, right from the get-go!}. So since I knew I'd be painting the rest of the board after I had the inset color chosen, I didn't worry about covering the border portion of the board. I just went to town, spraying about 3 coats of a light pink spray paint on the inset portion of the board {you'll probably need to wait about 30 minutes in between coats).
4. Now you may want to
add a stencil background to your inset. I thought about sponging on some damask print or using doilies as stencils {which I know would be super cute!}, but ultimately decided on doing a subtle lace backdrop. So I just cut some lace to fit the board, and then started spraying the entire board a creamy, vintage ivory color {right on over the lace}. Again, about 3 coats for full coverage, with drying time in between coats.
5. Once dry, you can remove the lace. Now it's time to
distress and age our piece by sanding it down again! But this time, we're going to focus on sanding edges and parts of it that you think might naturally wear off over time if left up to nature. This is another HUGE REASON why you want to look for cupboard doors, as they have that border around the edge with grooves that make for interesting distressing points for your art!! (NOTE: You can skip this part if you do NOT want a shabby chic, distressed finish!) This will give a nice
worn, vintage feel to your piece (which I just love myself!).
6. Now it's time for the most fun part:
embellishing! I had just purchased some amazing fabric and KNEW it would be perfect for these boards! So I cut the fabric into a rectangle (but feel free to choose whatever shape {or non-shape}you want!), and then added some decorative stitched borders with my sewing machine to them. {NOTE: The sewing part is totally UNnecessary, but I do have the machine with the capacity to do so, so I figured, "Why not?!" Especially since I used some lace-looking borders to go with my vintage, old-fashioned feel to these lovelies!}. Then I cut some hearts from totally different fabrics and stitched around their edges, too. I love the eclectic look, so I went for the opposite of my rectangle fabric pieces here - I went bold and more geometric (versus the paler, non-patterened rectangle pieces). I also decided to use some of the lace for a part of one of the boards, too. I cut a strip from the lace as well as a heart to add some depth and texture. I also added some lace trim to the board's backdrop, as well. Feel free to GO WILD here! Add doilies, buttons, stamps, jewels ~ whatever your little heart desires, just
go for it!
7. So here's my
BIG TIP for the backdrop part:
Layer and layer and layer and layer!! In other words, do NOT just spread it all out, without some overlapping of your elements!! It adds depth and character and really
makes the piece! Also, try some ANGLES - don't just square everything up! Keep trying different layouts, and once you are satisfied with the positioning of all your embellishments, it's time to start hot-gluing them down, one by one!
8. Then you just nail in your hooks and/or knobs (I found mine at Pier I Imports, by the way, but they also have some truly amazing knobs at both Hobby Lobby and Anthropologie!).
9. And the final step (which I actually have yet to do) is to add some mounting hooks to the back of your boards, and then hang them up obviously. I love that they are pieces of art in and of themselves, too! And now her headbands just SCREAM to be worn! Love, love, love!! {and hope you do, too!} :)
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