clip board art.

Published on by Quandie

I spent part of last week digging out my carriage house workshop after the long winter.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, this is my carriage house.  I park my car on one side in the winter and store future projects on the other side.  In summer, I paint out there.

Awww, it looks so pretty in pictures.  Especially winter pictures when the red pops against the white snow.  Now don’t be confused, it really isn’t still winter here in Minnesota, I just didn’t have a summer photo of the carriage house handy.

But the reality behind the pretty photo is that the carriage house is not at all weather or critter proof.  In the winter I mostly just shove stuff in there to store it until spring because it’s far too cold to spend any time at all out there.  When the weather starts warming up again I have to sort through all of that stuff and get my workshop situated so I can bring my painting supplies back out and resume painting out there.

While doing that this spring I encountered a possum, a chipmunk and a robin inside the carriage house.  Eeeeeek!  I’m telling you, it’s not critter proof at all.  And clearly my cat Lucy is not doing her job properly.

Well, the critters will soon figure out that I am taking back my workshop and hopefully find somewhere less busy to hang out.

In addition to the possum, I also came across a stash of clipboards that I’d been acquiring over the course of last summer’s garage sale season.

At the time I thought it would be fun to paint these up and use them as ‘frames’ for some prints but I never got around to it last year.

The vintage book of Audubon bird prints I found at the Tangletown sales had some perfect candidates for the clipboards though, so I decided to whip something up.

Since the prints had a lot of shades of green in them, I decided to go with green on my clipboards.

I pulled out an old jar of Little Billy Goat chalk paint in a color called Porch Swing.  A couple of years ago Little Billy Goat sponsored a few projects with me and sent me some of their paint to try.  I loved most of it, but I was quickly reminded that I didn’t love the Porch Swing while working on this project.  For some reason the Porch Swing ends up looking weirdly splotchy for me once I add a top coat.  The first time I used it I painted an entire dresser, and ending up having to paint it over again with something else when I got this splotchy look.

In the case of the clipboards, I tried to use Miss Mustard Seed wax on the first one and it looked terrible (sorry, I neglected to get a photo).  I tried Miss Mustard Seed hemp oil on the next two and got better results, although still slightly splotchy.  So I repainted the first one (after using mineral spirits and a green scrubbing pad to remove the wax) and then used hemp oil on it also so that all three would match.

Next I added some Tim Holtz rub-on numbers to the clips.

Then I just simply added my Audubon prints and they were good to go.

These would be perfect for hanging above your potting bench.

Or maybe just hanging on the wall in a sunroom.

What a simple, inexpensive way to add some interest to your walls!

40 thoughts on “clip board art.”

  2. Love this idea! I keep thinking that there has to be a good use for the old clipboards, every home used to have at least one. Now no one writes stuff down, so they are sent to the thrift store or the trash. Since they are usually not good wood people can’t see value. Thanks for rescuing another part of our past and doing it so beautifully.

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    1. I find them at garage sales for a quarter all the time! You’re right, everyone is discarding them. It would be fun to have a wall with a dozen or more arranged collage style.

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  3. Adorable! I like the color variation, it looks a little sun worn. I have a wall of clipboards that I use to display the kids’ art. I love them because they’re changeable!

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  4. Projects like this are why I love your blog. I would have just passed those by at a garage sale. So clever. Keep those ideas coming!

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  5. Maureen said exactly what I was thinking as I read this. You need and addendum to the name of your blog.
    Q is for quandie “creator of charming results from who would have thunk it possible stuff”. You make my days brighter and put a smile on my face. Thank you mam!

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  8. Love your upscaled clipboards! How many coats of paint? How did you keep clip edge away from surface till the paint dried sufficiently?

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    1. I used two coats of paint. While painted under the clip part I just held it open with my hand, but I let it close again over the wet paint. That did leave a line in the paint there that you can see if you hold the clip open, but otherwise it’s not noticeable.

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    1. I did experience a brief moment of guilt ripping the prints out of the book, but I reminded myself that it’s better to put them in clipboards where people might actually see them rather than hidden away in a musty old book 🙂

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    1. LOL, I briefly toyed with the idea of turning my photo cottage back into a potting shed after taking these photos. But then I reminded myself that when it was a potting shed I never actually used it for potting!

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  13. Your carriage house – critters and all! – is spectacular Linda! What a great work space when the weather cooperates. And I love this clipboard idea. The green under the botanical prints is beautiful…adds so much character. 🙂

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  17. I love that green, but how in the world are you so neat?!? I tried this but got paint all over the hardware! I am definitely not a neat painter. So I ended up tossing them in the deal with later pile.

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    1. I have always been pretty good at ‘cutting in’ even when painting walls and ceilings. Same concept here. You just need a good angle brush and a steady hand 😉

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  18. So sweet! I have clipboards from my Dad that he used at his truck terminal. Now…where are they? Hum
    Thanks for a great idea! Family pics would be cool too. Change them out with the seasons with Old seasonal pic or postcards.
    Blessings

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    1. That would be amazing Shelly! What a great way to use those clipboards that have some sentimental value attached to them, maybe use them to display photos of your dad/family!

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  20. Oh that makes me want to paint my clip boards pink for my studio, however i’m out of wall space, your furniture trip was wonderful also, makes me want to get out tomorrow and shop around

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