One of the things I love about being a mama is all of the heartfelt pieces of artwork I receive from my sweet and thoughtful kiddos. The hand prints made from paint, the cotton ball clouds, and the noodle people and skeletons are just a few of my favorites. But, after all of that hard work that is full of love, I always struggle with where I should place all of the gorgeous pieces of art. Today, Havalah from Sisters, Sisters, is showing us a genius way of displaying all of our kiddos masterpieces and all of their beloved pictures, awards and more with this fabulous Fabric Covered Magnetic Board. Enjoy!
For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to make a magnetic board for my little boy to place all the random things he makes and draws and everything else under the sun. I had this brilliant idea to make a frame, and thought it would be super easy. That is, with the help of my husband. A lot of help that is. When I was little, I used to help my dad with building things and stuff, but that was long ago and my wood shop skills are rusty. Thanks to my wonderful and patient husband, he held my hand (and did some of the work) through this whole project.
Fabric Covered Magnetic Board and Frame
||Supplies||
Galvanized Sheet Metal (NOT aluminum – take a magnet with you just in case) – any size you want. If you are using a premade frame then measure the frame and then find metal that is close to that size. You might need to get special scissors to cut the metal to fit your frame.
Fabric – I used Riley Blake Detour Main Cream
Multi-purpose Spray Adhesive
Wood – If making your own frame you’ll need…
1×2 and 1×3 pieces of wood
Picture Frame – If using a picture frame
|1| Lay your piece of metal on your fabric. Cut fabric piece so it’s 2-3 inches bigger all around the sheet metal.
|2| Make sure your fabric is ironed perfectly.
*Do this next step in the garage, other wise you’ll be cleaning up sticky gunk from the carpet and have an unhappy husband. If you are in a dirty garage, use an old clean sheet to lay your fabric on. On the old sheet, place your metal piece. Starting from one side of the metal, cover with spray adhesive one third of metal at a time. Now as you spray the adhesive on, carefully place your fabric wrong side down and smooth it in place. Spray another third and place more fabric. Repeat until you have completely placed the fabric on.
*Do this next step in the garage, other wise you’ll be cleaning up sticky gunk from the carpet and have an unhappy husband. If you are in a dirty garage, use an old clean sheet to lay your fabric on. On the old sheet, place your metal piece. Starting from one side of the metal, cover with spray adhesive one third of metal at a time. Now as you spray the adhesive on, carefully place your fabric wrong side down and smooth it in place. Spray another third and place more fabric. Repeat until you have completely placed the fabric on.
|3| Now turn the fabric and metal over. Starting on the short edges fold your corners as seen in the above picture. Then spray, with adhesive, the edge and pull the fabric over tightly. Then do the same to the long side. You can do this anyway you like really, just make sure the fabric is tight on the main side.
This is the part in the ‘choose your own adventure books’ where you get to choose your own adventure! Are you feeling pretty lucky right now? You should.
Step |4|a – Using a Picture Frame
or
Step |4| b – Making your own frame
Are you brave enough? Heck yes, if I can do it (with a little hubby help) then you most certainly can to!
|4|a. Using A Picture Frame
If you are going to use a picture frame, if the metal was too big for the frame, I believe you can get special scissors for around $8-10 that can easily cut the sheet metal. Now that the metal is the correct size, carefully remove the glass and place your metal inside. Then place back on the picture frame backing and you’re done.
|4|b Making Your Own Frame
Wood: I was planning on doing 1×3 for all four sides, but we had a 1×2 laying around and I liked the idea of doing 1×2 for the sides and 1×3 for the tops. Originally I was going to make a frame as seen on the blog Organize Your Stuff Now. But because I decided to use the different sizes of wood, that option was out. However, you can do that option if you like the more traditional look. See picture below to see what I did.
[1] Cutting wood: We made the frame so that the metal would only overlap half of each side of the frame.
For example, the metal was 24 x 36. Since I wanted the metal to over 1x2s by half their width (1″), the length of the top and bottom (1x3s). So I cut my 1x3s each 38″. Once we measured the top and bottom, this left the 1x2s to each be 22″.
So in summary, of my cuts were:
Sheet Metal – 24×26
2 – 1x3s – 38″
2 – 1x2s – 22″
[2] Putting together:
option a: The most correct way to put a picture frame together is to use a pocket hole jig – go here to see how to do this correctly. This allows you to put together the frame without any visible screws or screw holes. However, you have to purchase one of these jigs, and that wasn’t something we wanted to do.
option b: Another way of assembling would be to use brackets on the corners, as seen in this post here
option c: What we did – Start at one corner, join one of the 1×2 perpendicular to the 1×3. Clamp the wood pieces to a table for stability if you are able. Now using a drill bit and drill two holes for the screws.
In order to properly counter sink the screw, without splitting the wood, use a drill bit the size of the screw head, drill a hole 1/4 of an inch deep (see image below). Now you’re ready to screw your screws in. Do this for all four sides.
[3] Wood Filler and Sanding: After placing the screws, fill the holes with wood filler by following the directions on the package. I waited to sand after everything was assembled. You can sand after cutting or after assemblage.
[4] Stain or Paint: Before attaching the sheet metal, stain or paint the frame. I went with staining; I thought it would look great with the fabric I chose.
[5] Attaching the Metal: If you’re still with me on this ‘choose your own adventure’, then shout for joy because we are almost done. I know this was the harder option, but you’re going to feel sooo good after your done. It’s going to look great!
Ok enough talk. Place the sheet metal on the back of your frame so that it is perfectly spaced.
In order to get through the metal, you’re going to want to use a nail and hammer a hole through the metal. Then grab a screw and drill that screw into the made hole. Do this all around the frame. As you can see above, we did a generous amount of screws to hold the magnetic board in place.
Now attach some heavy duty hangers and hang it on your wall and you are done!!!
Thank you Havalah! This is such a fun project, and I love the gorgeous frame! I think I need to make a whole room out of fabric covered magnetic boards to display all that my kiddos bring home to me with such excitement and pride! Wonderful job and great idea! For more incredible ideas by Havalah, make sure to check out her fun blog at Sister, Sisters.
Havalah is such a fun Contributor and has shared some super great tutorials with us! Here are some of my favorites from this sweet lady…
What would you display on your Fabric Covered Magnetic Board?
Happy Creating & Happy Magnetic Boards!
8 Comments
Thanks for having me.
Hi Havalah! You are so welcome! Thank you so much for being so amazing, fun to work with and simply incredible!!! Have a wonderful day and thanks for sharing this great tutorial with us today! Michelle 🙂
Yeah!! nice board.I like all these…Thanks a lot for sharing this with us.
You are so welcome! We are glad you enjoyed this fun project! Have a great day and thank you for stopping by! Michelle 🙂
You wrote a very nice post on magnetic board. I like this post.
Thank you Paul! Have a great day! Michelle 🙂
I used magnetic board for our children’s, who faced difficult on there reading. It help them to overcome there reading problems.
Hi Paul! Thank you for your comment! A magnetic board is a great idea! I am so glad this fun project helped your kiddos! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! Michelle 🙂