Craftuary, Day 1: What We're Making & Why

Like so many this year, I’m tired of seeing my screen time creep up. I’m really wanting to rewire my brain back into a less scrolling, more making mode. This mindset is what inspired me to refer to this month as… Craftuary.

I have a list of 14 small projects I’d love to work on through this month in an effort to doom-scroll a little less while creating a little more.

I’ll include a list of supplies (most of which you might already have) below. I have a fairly large pinboard in my office that lives behind a desk and it holds calendars, fabric/wallpaper samples, reminders, moodboards, etc. It’s become one of those unexpectedly functional pieces that also feels like a giant piece of decor.

One day Brooks (my 4 yr old) came to me holding a piece of artwork and asked if we could hang it on my pinboard. I said yes, of course, but it sparked an idea to make him his own. He has a giant empty wall space above his art table and I realized how fun it would be for him to have his own artwork display pinboard.

Since I had already made one before, it felt like the perfect way to kick off Craftuary and document the process again.

Corkboard Tiles (my personal favorite but any corkboard cut to size works)

Pegboard (or something sturdy to attach the cork to)

Pine Boards & Screws (to connect pegboards if making a giant one)

Ornamental Trim & Stain (for the frame)

Upholstery Stapler (for fabric) - electric or manual

Brad Nailer (for attaching frame pieces)

Sawtooth Picture Hangers

Mitre Saw or Handsaw Box (to cut trim pieces)

Existing Picture Frames (if making a smaller one)

Fabric

The first step is attaching the corkboard tiles to the pegboard. The cork pieces I used come with adhesive strips, which makes the part super simple. Each pegboard is 4x2 ft and each cork tile is 1x1 ft, so it took 8 tiles to cover one pegboard. I did this twice and then attached the two pegboards.

For this board, I wanted a 4x4 size, so I connected two pegboards together using 3-4 pine boards as connector pieces.

All of this is very flexible depending on the size you want and whether or not you’re simply using an existing frame.

Once the pegboard was assembled, I moved on to the decorative portion. You can use old curtains (I used this one for our first), or fabric of any kind. I will say that using stripes makes is much more challenging because then you have to worry about them being perfectly straight. Using a floral pattern was much more forgiving.

The key here is pulling the fabric tight so nothing feels loose or saggy. I stapled it to the back and once the fabric was attached, it was time for the frame! I stained ornamental trim in dark walnut and then measured each side of the pegboard carefully. Again, if you’re doing this with an existing frame - don’t worry about this step!

After the stain dried, I cut each piece of trim at 45 degree angles using a mitre saw. A simple handsaw box works great too if you don’t have an electric saw. Using a brad nailer, I attached the trim to the pinboard.

Once the trim was secure, we held the board up to the wall to determine placement, added hardware, and up it went!