Memo Board Craft
My daughter Chloe isn’t really a chocolate/candy kind of teen so every year when Valentine’s Day comes around I try to think of something creative to do for her. Like every other teen, she asks for gifts cards (and scratch off lottery tickets) but putting them in a card just wasn’t good enough for me so I made her a chic memo board.
Getting Crafty
Lately, I have been seeing a trend in macrame, crocheting, and string arts from the 60’s and 70’s popping up, so here’s my updated version of a string art. I thought it would be a creative way to give her a Valentine’s gifts and still have something that she could use for a long time after. She loves Tiffany Blue so I steered away from the tradition reds and pinks and give her her favorite color.
How to make a heart Memo Board
I started with a 12 by 16 inch pine board that I purchased from Michael’s Arts and Crafts. In a pinch and didn’t have any extra lumber hanging around the house, I opted for a finished piece of wood. If you want to use reclaimed wood or any boards that you have that are relatively larger that 12 inches wide go right ahead. I purchased black and white Baker’s twine from the dollar bins, picture hanging hooks and 100 pack of large silver headed push pins. Regular nails would do too. I found a small container of turquoise paint on the Oops shelf at Home Depot. Also from the hardware store metal mailbox letters spelling out Chloe’s name. If you can’t find the metal letters you could always stencil on a name or use stickers/decals. Or consider omitting the name all together depending on the look you want.
Affordable Memo Board
I painted the board and cut out a heart the old fashioned way by folding and cutting paper in half. Then I was assured to have an even heart. I traced the heart and then painted the inside of the penciled heart a shade lighter turquoise. Adding a bit of white paint to tint it (Optional). Then I hammered the nail heads around the edge of the heart making sure they were secure but not fully hammered all the way into the board, spacing them out roughly 1/3 to 1/2 inch apart. Starting with the bottom of the heart and working my way around.
Time to string
I then took the baker’s twine and made a knot leaving some extra string hanging and knotted the pushpin at the base of the heart. Try to crisscross along the entire heart randomly making sure to hit every pushpin at least once and ending up at the same pushpin that I started with. I tied a knot. The memo board was coming together!
Personalized memo board
Using a ruler , I made sure my metal letters were spaced out evenly and hammered them in with tiny brads. In went her gift cards to Alex and Ani, Starbucks, and Marshalls along with lottery scatch-offs. Her DIY memo board was done. I loved it!
Total time for project was 1 hour and 15 minutes and cost around $22. Now Chloe can place her friends photos, gift cards and mementos in her heart memo holder for years to come. I might need to make one for myself…..
Happy Crafting! Amie
