My 4 yr old daughter, Mary, loves to draw especially where she shouldn’t (like on herself, furniture or the walls) so she was a perfect candidate for a DIY dry erase board for her wall. I figured this would give her the same feeling of adventure, but without breaking the rules. The first attempt, my interpretation of a princess crown, I thought to be adorable and perfect for her. It wasn’t long before I realized that it was too small and the temptation to draw outside of the “lines” was a little too great....
... and so I come up with a plan B. I decided to create more space for her to develop her artistic sensibilities but still wanted it to be fit for a princess. I came up with the design below, and so far so good. :)
I first measured out the size using a yard stick and pencil. Once I was comfortable with the proportions, I used blue painters tape to frame out the space to be painted with the Dry Erase Paint (purchased from Home Depot for about $22.00).
I followed the instructions on the box... prepped wall and painted, no sweat. This was evolving into the coolest DIY Princess Dry Erase Board EVER!!!
Mary and I had a special outing to JoAnn Fabric to pick out the fabric that would frame her new art space. Come to find out she has expensive taste, picking out a fabric that cost $12.99 per yard, and for this project we needed 6 yards. I guided her to the more affordable fabric and we were able to match the “feel” of her original pick with a lovely satin piece, costing only $3.99 per yard. I try to always use coupons when I go the the craft store, so I was able to save 40% on this cut. I also purchased some gold/white rope cord to tie up the sides and the golden garland that looks like upside down triangles which I used at the top of the project. The final item we needed to buy was the no-sew tape.
I love to craft, so the other supplies used I had on hand... a dowel cut to size (used as the rod to hold the drapes) and 4 small screw-in hooks with circle ends (2 at the top to hold the dowel and 2 at the sides to thread the rope through which would pull back the drapes). I used matching ribbon and hot glue to wrap the dowel so the wood was not exposed, however it was really unnecessary because you cannot see the dowel at all on the finished product.
Next, I needed to create the loop at the top ends of the fabric so it would hang like drapes. I placed the no-sew tape a few inches from the top of the fabric, then folded the top edge down to create the opening and ironed. This took me about 10 minutes to do both pieces. Once the loop was created, I slid the two pieces of fabric right onto the dowel and was ready to hang. So EASY!! :) I thought about finishing the remaining 3 edges of the fabric, but was working around a nap schedule and didn’t really have the time. After hanging, the edges of the drapes were not exposed so I was cool with leaving them unfinished. However if you have the time, it will just make the quality that much better!
Next, I used the rope to pull back the drapes. Then I tied knots at both ends of each rope, about 2-3 inches up. Right below each knot, I wrapped a clear mini-elastic band and unraveled the rope to create the tasseled look. It took just minutes to do but really helped to make it look royal.
I used jewelry string to weave through and hang the embellishment at the top.
I originally planned to make a princess crown using cardboard and glitter to put at the top, but Mary loves it just as it is, so we’ll re-visit that later. The only other addition I am still considering is creating DIY sconces to hang on either side. Maybe, with an oval mirror or frame and attach a cup to hold flowers or colored beads or something? By the way, this would also make a great back-drop for pictures or a little play! :)
I used jewelry string to weave through and hang the embellishment at the top.
I originally planned to make a princess crown using cardboard and glitter to put at the top, but Mary loves it just as it is, so we’ll re-visit that later. The only other addition I am still considering is creating DIY sconces to hang on either side. Maybe, with an oval mirror or frame and attach a cup to hold flowers or colored beads or something? By the way, this would also make a great back-drop for pictures or a little play! :)
