Another DIY!

I've been trying to get a few items for my apartment for when I move just for a fun, cheap refresh.  Since my goal is saving money to buy a house, I've been trying to be as budget-friendly as possible in getting new items.  I've been looking at memo boards on Etsy, in stores, and online and wasn't really finding much below $30 or so.  I'm going to have a blank wall in my new kitchen that I thought would be a nice place to a cute board and would be convenient for a small command center as I come and go.

I'd looked at this memo board at Hobby Lobby a few times, but wasn't completely convinced of the print.  I like the vintage-y scribbles, but I just didn't think it was the look I was going for in my kitchen.  But, during my last HL visit I found this board on the clearance aisle marked down from $29.99 to $10.20.  It suddenly became much more appealing, but I still wasn't totally sold on the fabric.  If you look closely the black frame also had some white spots showing through where the paint had chipped off.  I debated, but for just over $10 I decided to grab it (since it was the only one left) and make it work!

When I got home I pulled out these yellow napkins that I snagged on clearance at Target a couple months back.  I don't really entertain or use cloth napkins at all, but I loved this pattern (it compliments some placemats and pillows I have that are also from Target) and decided to go on and get them since the 4 were less than $3.  I measured the board and found that one of the napkins was the perfect size to use the fabric to recover the board!  I'd been wanting to go with yellow accents in my kitchen and this is the perfect starting point!

I wanted to preserve the existing fabric on the board in case I change my mind down the line, so I found some thin packaging foam downstairs from when I bought my TV.  I cut it to fit around the existing board and just stapled it on to add a little extra cushion and so that the black print wouldn't be visible through the fabric.

From there, I repeated the process of cutting the napkin and stapling it to the board.  The frame overlaps so I had about 1/3 of an inch to work with to where my staples would still be hidden.  It took a few tries and it's not completely perfect and straight, but it's pretty darn close!

The final step was to touch up the black paint.  I was able to do this pretty easily with about 3 drops of black paint and a little sponge brush.

And then, voila!  A cute new memo board for my kitchen!  The total cost was less than $14 and I still have 3 more of the napkins to decorate with!  (I'm contemplating finding a way to sew them into a throw pillow or 2!)