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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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August 9, 2011

A Winner & DIY By Design visits the Fence!

We are so thrilled to be welcoming a special guest today but before we get to that we have a little business to take care of! It’s time to announce the winner of the $100 E-Spree from…
joss-and-main-logo

And the winner is…
Lisa from House Dressing!!


Congratulations Lisa!
We will be in contact with you regarding the details and we know you will have fun on your
E-Shopping Spree!

And now, help us in welcoming one of our dearest friends to the Fence today!

picketfence_20010

Hi, I’m Judy from DIYbyDesign.

When Vanessa and Heather asked me to do a guest post for them – of course I jumped at the chance.
They are amazing people and I am so lucky to be able to call them friends.

I was in denial, but with all the TV I watched over the past week while I was recovering from eating some bad raw sushi, I can’t deny it anymore.  It’s almost back to school time.  Actually here in New York, my kids don’t go back until after Labor Day. However, much of the country begins even earlier.   The summer is flying and while I am trying to enjoy every second of it, it’s never too early to start getting organized for the school year.  So, unfortunately, it’s time to start thinking about back to school ideas.

Source
My daughter is starting Middle School this year and that means lockers.  Well why wouldn’t I want to decorate her locker just like any other space.  I just love this locker wall paper from the container store.  It’s cut to fit most lockers and magnetic organizers can be used right on top of it.  So cool!

Source
Gotta love the matching accessories as well.  
Source
Backpacks are on sale right now at Pottery Barn Kids and Teen…plus free shipping.  I love to get the matching lunch boxes as well.

Source
Looking for a super cute desk for next to nothing?  I found this one at Wallmart.com for $37.74.  It comes in five cool colors.

Source
Not to mention they have matching desk chairs for the same price.  
Once you have an awesome desk and chair, how about a memo board to go with it.  My daughter needed a memo board for near her desk.  She loves the memo boards she sees in Pottery Barn Teen.  However, those memo boards are $79 plus shipping.

Image from Pottery Barn Teen

But I knew I could recreate that same look.  I started out with a painters canvas from Michaels.  I also bought a roll of cork.
As it turned out, the cork had an adhesive backing.  Otherwise my plan had been to use a spray adhesive.  This was even easier.

The canvas I chose was 18″ x 24″.  I didn’t want something too big.  Just a nice spot for whatever she wants to pin up on the board.

I started by removing the backing and attaching the cork to the canvas.
Using my utility knife, I cut the edge of the cork to the exact size of the canvas.

I laid the canvas upside down on the wrong side of the fabric.

I cut the fabric leaving approximately 3-4″ on all sides.

Using my staple gun, I stapled the fabric to the wood frame on the canvas.
I folded the edges like I would if I were wrapping a gift.
I did this on all four sides.  I stapled every 4-5″.

It looked a little too plain so I went into my stash of ribbon and got a roll of pink grosgrain ribbon and stapled it to the top back corner.

I wrapped it around the front and stapled to the back of the other side.  I did this on all four sides.

Here is the finished product.

Here it is hanging in her room.  It is the perfect size and color.

It’s an awesome spot for her to pin some of her favorite things.  Here’s how the cost broke down:
1/2 yard fabric – $3 at JoAnn’s
Canvas – $7 at Michaels
Cork – $8 (although I only used half – I should only be charged with $4 for this project:) )
Ribbon – I had that already
Total cost – Under $20.

Hope you enjoyed my back to school ideas.  Thanks again to Vanessa and Heather!
-Judy
Thank YOU Judy!
You know how much we love your fantastic ideas and think you are one seriously talented lady!
It was an honor to have you here with us today,

11 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas, Guest Posts

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Comments

  1. housedressingblog.blogspot.com says

    August 9, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Whoo Hoo! I think that’s me who won! My blog is House Dressing, but my name is Lisa… not Liz, but will gladly change my name if it’s necessary to claim the prize!

    Reply
  2. Catie says

    August 9, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Great post. I LOVE that memo board she made. Looks great! I’d love to see the rest of that bedroom too. Guess I’m off to check out her blog. : ) Thanks for sharing ladies!

    Reply
  3. At The Picket Fence says

    August 9, 2011 at 3:50 PM

    Don’t change your name LISA!! We had a brain freeze moment but YOU are the winner! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Debbie says

    August 9, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    Congrats to the winner! I still feel a bit like a winner since I now get a little email with eye candy and dream bait from J&M.

    Loved that memo board. I made one for my older daughter for college years ago because we couldn’t find one we liked as much as what we could make.
    Cheaper too!

    Reply
  5. New Every Morning says

    August 9, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    Ooh! I love this idea! I might make one of these for each of my girls! Yay!

    Reply
  6. Ann Marie of At Home With Ann Marie says

    August 9, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    Memo boards have been a hot item for several years now, it’s so great to see an awesome DIY one! Totally customizable to the room colors! Great job! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Michele Smith says

    August 9, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    Congratulations to the winner! Love that board, super cute!

    Reply
  8. Modern Country Lady says

    August 9, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    super cute, Judy! Hope you feel a bit better by the way.
    XOXO
    Bea

    Reply
  9. Gypsy Heart says

    August 9, 2011 at 10:23 PM

    Congrats to Lisa!! What fun this will be ~

    I love this project! I’m going to ask my granddaughter if she would like one. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Pat

    Reply
  10. NanaDiana says

    August 9, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Congratulations to Lisa. She is a real sweetheart and I am glad she won! yeaaaa! xo Diana

    Reply
  11. Anne Lorys - Fiona and Twig says

    August 11, 2011 at 2:12 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply

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The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
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Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
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Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
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I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

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What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
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What’s the weather like where you are?
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