My Almost Insta-Flannel Board
<img class=”alignnone wp-image-1002″ title=”Converting an old and unused picture frame into a really shnazzy felt board worthy of hanging on your wall! | Hafuboti.com” src=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/boid-is-the-woid.jpg?w=584″ alt=”” width=”584″ height=”778″>
Ever since I found a love of felt <em>(<a href=”http://wp.me/p2N1aX-fM” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>see here</a>)</em>, I’ve been wanting to invest in a flannel board. However, we’ll hopefully be getting a new children’s librarian soon <em>::crosses fingers::</em> and I have no idea if s/he is even interested in using felt in storytimes. So, to spend the library’s money on something that may or may not be used is just wrong.
Enter ingenuity!
I have no idea if other people have done this, but this idea came to me because I’ve used various frameworks (from <a href=”http://wp.me/p2N1aX-2N” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>bulletin boards</a> to empty frames) for other random crafty things and I was like, “hey, we have these extra unused picture frames at the library that I could totally use! It’ll be on the small side, but it should be quick, easy, and cheap.” It was indeed all of the above!
Basically, I took out the glass from one frame and carefully discarded it.
<img class=”alignnone wp-image-1003″ title=”We discovered about a dozen of these framed pictures in our storage closet two years ago. The images turned out to be from a calendar. We’ve been slowly repurposing them ever since their discovery.” src=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/frame1.jpg?w=584″ alt=”A picture of a very sad picture that no one wanted to look at. Also the cardboard I used for later on in the project.” width=”584″ height=”469″>
I then glued two pieces of black felt to the backer board (and trimmed the excess).
<img class=”alignnone wp-image-1004″ title=”I probably would have had better results using our spray adhesive, but it was too cold/dark outside when I was doing this project.” src=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/frame2.jpg?w=584″ alt=”Empty frame, and the cheap cardboard backer partially covered with one of two black felt pieces.” width=”584″ height=”455″>
It was on the flimsy side (this needs to stand up to curious toddlers who I hope will interact with the board), so I took a cardboard box lid and cut it to fit the frame. I then folded down the little metal prongs – and BAM! I was done.
<img class=”alignnone wp-image-1006″ title=”The back revealed in all its glory!!!” src=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/frame5.jpg?w=584″ alt=”The back of the frame with the bonus thicker cardboard backer – showing off my lazy cardboard-cutting style.” width=”584″ height=”451″>
I now have a pretty snazzy gold-framed felt board.
<a href=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/frame4.jpg”><img class=”alignnone wp-image-1005″ title=”And the front. Hopefully my hand will give you an idea of the size (I didn’t think to measure it – measuring’s boring).” src=”http://hafuboti.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/frame4.jpg?w=584″ alt=”That’s it! A completed flannel board for storytimes using things that we had lying around the library.” width=”584″ height=”442″></a>
The gold paint had flecked off a little bit in the lower left-hand corner of the frame (you can see the black splotches in the above picture). I had a gold leaf pen at home, so I brought it in and used it to cover the damage – and it looks great! <em>(refer to the top image of this post)</em>
This truly was a fantastic instant gratification project. I’ll be sure to let you know how well it holds up. And if it does hold up well, then I may even think of making a few more with different colored felt backgrounds for different stories. It would also be fun to add a hanger to the frame and hang it up somewhere in the library where we could switch out what was in the frame(s) to go along with the decor each month.
I showed my boss this project and she was so excited about it that she’s offered to bring in a much larger picture frame of hers to be converted since the glass was cracked. I’ll be sure to post about that board as well if we do indeed flannelize it.
<em>Side Note: I made the turkey from the top image from using the template found <a href=”http://naptimecrafting.blogspot.com/2010/11/felt-turkey-for-toddlers-w-template.html?m=1″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>here</a>. I plan to use this in a toddler storytime, so I wanted to make only the large feathers, and didn’t embroider the feathers since I wanted sticking power.</em>
