Clean the Clutter

   Yesterday I was looking around my house rather irritated by all the clutter (I am always irritated by clutter), and I noticed how many glorious creations I have on the wall from my daughter. On the frig, on the cabinets, in the hall, by the door, in her room...and it goes on. Now don't get me wrong, I love displaying all her doodles, finger prints, and sticker collages, but enough is enough. They needed a dedicated place. So I created this board. Its super easy, and now her wonderful expressions can be displayed, then taken down, and then replaced with new ones. But only on the board! Many variations of this board can be created: change the size, the background, colors, etc, but I decided to make it simple as to not take away from the pictures being displayed. Yes, you can buy this board in the store, but why pay $15 when you can make it for $2 (or free if you already have the stuff like me)! 
    
Here's what you need:

• foam board, cardboard, or even plywood size of your choosing-just something sturdy for the board base
• tape and/or stapler
• ribbon
• yard stick or quilter's rule works nicely
• pencil
  
  
  
  Once your supplies are collected, its easy as pie! (Really though, no pie is easy to make. I resent the person who came up with that one.)
  At this point, there is a variation as well. I made my board VERY simple, but to make your board more colorful and inviting, I recommend using a piece of fabric over the front size of the board and stapling it to the back. You could even sandwich some quilt batting in there to give it padding. In this case, I did not want to use a detailed fabric to take away from the pictures, and I hoard fabric for future use. Putting fabric over the board would waist some of my precious fabric that I could use on an even cuter project! 
   Make little marks on the top and bottom depending on how far you want your ribbons apart. I made mine 3 inches apart.
  
  
  
   Then, draw diagonal lines leaning to the right using your ruler, skipping every other pencil mark. Use the remaining pencil marks to draw diagonal lines to the left.
  
  
   The diagonals will create a diamond pattern that looks like this. If you would like your diamonds smaller, than just use smaller measurements in between marks.
  
  
  
  I can be super lazy, so when I measured my my ribbon, I just held it up against the diagonal lines and cut. Of course you can measure your diagonals, and then cut the ribbon, but just be sure to allow extra ribbon for each end so that you can wrap it around the back. Use all one color ribbon, or go crazy use all different ones! It doesn't matter. 
  
  
  
  Follow the diagonals and tape your ribbons to the back. Make sure to pull the ribbon tight so that it will hold pictures. Secure all the ribbon going one direction, and then move on to the next direction. I had the intention of stapling, but I ended up using tape because the staples poked through the front a little. I used A LOT of tape for good measure, because I am really not sure how the board is going to hold up against a 3 year old hanging pictures. 
  
  
  
  Front of the board.
  
  And Voila! A place for all the pictures, and no more clutter!
  
  
  I am hope that this board holds up. I just nailed it to the wall at my daughter's level so that she can add and subtract whenever she pleases. Let me know if you make a board and how it turns out!