Monday 27 February 2012

Monday Make: Dry Wipe Boards Two Ways

Hi there,
I hope you had a great weekend. I did lots of planning and organising for developing this blog, though I don't want to give away all my plans just yet!

Today I have finally got round to a project I have been wanting to do for ages. I saw this idea to use frames to make dry wipe boards for your home on Pinterest last year. I don't know who originally came up with this idea, and I don't claim it as my own. It was one of those ideas that seems so obvious once you see it, it makes you wonder how you didn't come up with it yourself.

Basically, the principle is that the glass (or perspex) of the frame is a wipe clean surface that you can write on with a white board marker. You can then customise this with any kind of paper, photographs or fabric you can think of. Easy! I have made two frames for my home today, which took about half an hour for both. It is cheap, easy and totally customisible - what's not to love? I went for two contrasting looks, just to show how versatile this project is. 



The first one I made using a beautiful piece of fancy edged vintage linen that I bought in a bundle with a load of doileys, hankies and other treasures from a charity shop down in Somerset. I picked this one because it happened to fit my frame (a cheap one from Wilkinson) perfectly, which I took as a sign! I like that with this one the fabric isn't pressed completely flat so you can still see the texture and creases and I love the gentle, neutral colour palette and simplicity of the design. This would work well with all kinds of textiles from bright prints to lace to those lovely vintage hand embroidered hankies and napkins you often find in charity shops.

The second one I made used another cheap frame, this one from Ikea, and used a piece of Orla Kiely wrapping paper I got from John Lewis today. In fact, I think the paper probably cost more than the frame! I simply cut the paper to size and put it in the frame, done! This is a much more modern, graphic style, and I think it looks really great, and much more expensive than it actually was. I think in total both these dry wipe boards cost me less than £10.


I am thrilled with how this project has come out, both boards look great in my home and will be really useful as well as beautiful. Most people probably have a frame and a bit of nice wrapping paper, leftover wallpaper or fabric at home already, so this is the kind of quick project that you could easily accomplish in an evening. The great thing is that you can change them as often as you like and customise them to match or contrast with any colour scheme. These would be a great homemade gift since they work for meal planners, shopping lists, to do lists or just leaving your sweetheart little notes before you go out... Enjoy making your own customised dry wipe board at home and combining home organisation with prettiness!



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1 comment:

  1. fabulous idea! i just pinned it to pinterest, & shall make one this weekend. thanks!

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