the hybrid chick

It’s school time again!  I KNOW, it sounds crazy, but it really IS school time for my 3rd grader and kindergartener.  We are on a year round schedule and school started Wednesday!  Yes, it came around way too fast, and it will for you too, so let’s get started on a great way to help your child stay organized.  (oh, and p.s., this is a good way for us big kids to be organized as well!). 

Our family’s school year works best when all important things like homework and memos home can be found in one place, every time.  For the past couple of years that has been clamped in a magnetic bulldog clip on the front of the fridge.  BUT, this summer I gave my fridge a makeover and all the “stuff” has come down so we needed a new homework station. 

Enter this project that uses some thrift store finds, a cute digital kit from The DigiChick Boutique and some common craft items to corral those very important but oh so loseable school papers.

Gather your supplies:

• Clipboard
• Three Little Birdsby Pri Rocha at the DigiChick
• crop o dile
• clear spray paint
• color of choice spray paint
• acrylic paint
• glossy accents ( or like embellishment adhesive)
• fabric tac (for adhering fabric or ribbon)
• mod podge

Check these babies out!  I bet they could tell some stories about where they have been!

The story they told me from the shelf at the thrift store was “hey lady, I am a little rough around the edges but I have a lot of life left in me….and, check it out!  I am only 30 cents each!”.  The thrifty crafter in me took pity on these poor industrial orphans.  I had to take them home to see what they would do with a bit of shine and polish.  Now, of course, brand new clipboards will work for this project as well but I LOVE a bargain and had to share their “BEFORE” shot.

And this is the AFTER shot!  Wow! Totally new lease on life methinks!

STEP 1: Clean em up!

I used Un-Du for any leftover adhesive and then just gave the board a good scrub with a brush and dish soap.  Let it dry totally before trying to adhere anything to it. 

STEP 2: Create an instruction sheet with totally cute digi kit!

Using Pri Rocha’s Three Little Birds kit, I created an instruction sheet for each of my girls. 

The list shows what should be in their backpack everyday and then lists other special days like library day, PE day, homework due and bible study.  These are days that require something extra to go into the backpack. 

I left space to adhere removable labels since the days for each event could change in the future.  Also, I did some doodling and defining with a couple of black markers on the sheet on the right versus the original images as shown on the left pink printout.

STEP 3: adhere the sheet to your clipboards

To get to the fun part, first spray the boards front and back with spray paint.

I painted the clip a contrasting color with acrylic craft paint.  Insert a pencil under the clip edge to keep if from sticking to the board during any drying time. 

The printed sheet was adhered with mod podge applied on the back of the cardstock.  REMEMBER to seal the front of the printed cardstock with clear acrylic sealer so your inkjet ink doesn’t run.  Smooth out any mod pdge bubbles with your hand or a rubber brayer. 

Once dry, spray the front of the board with the clear acrylic with several coats, allowing it to dry in between coats.

STEP 4: Get your embellishment on!

A crop-o-dile makes a clean hole through this THICK metal! I had my doubts for a second and then POP! Worked like a charm! This made it easy to securely attach flowers with a decorative brad.

For added good measure, a strip of ribbon under the clasp and some fun bling. Let your imagination run!

Here it is in action with a piece of kindergarten news already! Can’t believe it!

I’m so glad you stopped by today. I hope you enjoyed this project and that you’ll try it for yourself.

Ok, I have to go now, recess is over….. 

Other Articles by DanaGustafson:

• Hybrid Shrink Plastic and YOU! - October 14th, 2009
• The icing on the cake... - September 18th, 2009
• Gift Tags Galore! - September 9th, 2009
• Paper Tussy Mussy - August 21st, 2009
• You're WILD, baby! baby card and gift box - June 26th, 2009