Saturday, April 11, 2015

Big, Pink, Furry, Heart-shaped Bulletin Board


I've had a few questions about how we made some of the décor in Bea's bedroom, so I thought I'd share the details in individual posts. 




First of all, the whole idea for this giant, furry heart on Bea's wall started because she wanted a bulletin board in her bedroom. I mean, what girl doesn't love to pin and tape stuff all over their room, am I right?

And if you know me at all, you know that I love to cover things in fur. (Like this, and this, and this.... oh, and this.)

So, Eric and I went to Home Depot to search for something lightweight and cheap that we could use to build a gigantic, 3-dimensional heart. We found a sheet of 4ft x 8ft styrofoam insulation board, cut it in half, and glued it together with a can of Great Stuff (insulating foam glue for gaps & cracks). Then I cut out the heart shape with a long, sharp, snap-off knife blade.

I knew the front of the bulletin board would need to be a surface that allows pushpins to stay in it (styrofoam is too chunky), so I glued some pieces of foam board to the front and cut around the heart shape of the styrofoam. The finished piece measures 48"x48". 

I ordered some fuchsia Mongolian fur from fabrics.com, and spray glued it to the foam core on the front of the heart. Then I hot glued the edges/sides onto the back of the heart. WARNING: if your hot glue is too hot, it will melt the styrofoam. You have to set your hot glue gun on cool melt and go slowly. 

To hang it up, Eric cut a "french cleat" using two thin wooden boards. That way, we could mount one to the wall, and one to the back of the bulletin board and just slide them on top of each other. Easy peasy. 

Now Bea's ready to pin up all of her favorite drawings and memorabilia. 



Here are a few photos of the back and some closeups that might help if you're interested in making your own gigantic, furry, heart-shaped bulletin board.


This is the back side, showing where to glue the fur and where to attach the french cleat.

Hot glue the edge of the fur to the back.

Mongolian faux fur is awesome. I use it all the time. 

This board mounts to the wall.

This board mounts to the back of the bulletin board.