Proud Crafter Moment: DIY Memo Board

So I finally finished a project I had been sitting on for a while (I could start pretty much every blog post with this sentence), and the end result is something I'm pretty dang proud of, ifIdosaysomyself.  I've been inspired by a project I've seen all over various blogs and Pinterest, kind of like this, this and this. I have always thought it was a swell project, so I decided to try my hand at making one. 

I started with the above materials - an empty wood frame, spray paint, fabric, and jute twine. I already had all of these materials on hand, collected at thrift stores or craft stores over time. Just so happened they all could be happily married into this one awesome project. 

I started by simply spray painting the frame white.  Then I cut a bunch of short pieces of the twine and used hot glue to attach them to the back of the frame.  I opted for a random, crissed-crossed pattern, as opposed to having them all go straight across at even intervals. 

I was then left with this. Which would have been just fine as it is, and I did originally think this would be my end point. That was until I found the super cheap scrap of yummy yellow and white chevron fabric. So I simply stapled the fabric to the back of the frame and voila. 

Here is what I ended up with!

Added some mini clothespins, clipped on some pictures, hung it on the wall, and boom! Done!

Here it is taking residence on our ever-developing frame wall that I finally got started on recently.  More on that later when it's a little more filled in.  

So I mentioned that I was able to use random thrifted and crafty materials I had collected, but I'll break down how much this puppy technically cost me:

Frame: $2 (thrift store find)

Jute twine: $2.50 (thrift store find - and will last many, many projects beyond this one)

Fabric: $2 (scrap on clearance at Hobby Lobby. Quick tip: ALWAYS check the clearance fabric section at your local craft store. It's where they stash fabric that has been mis-cut or cut and returned, and it's a great way to snag severely discounted fabric scraps that are super useful for random projects such as this one!)

Mini-clothespins: $3 (available at most craft stores)

TOTAL: $9.50 (And I will be able to use the remainders of everything above except the frame itself for future projects)

(Oh, and most people already own things like paint or hot glue, but if you didn't, that might add an additional $10-$15.)

So there it is. I rarely toot my own horn when it comes to home improvement or crafty endeavors, as the title of this here blog indicates very clearly, but this is one project I am pretty dang proud of. I had a little inspiration, yes, but from there it was all my own creative juices that went into this. And I'm even prouder to say I got 'er done with a whopping ZERO, count 'em, ZERO oopsies. Booyeah! Crafting win!