For a long time now I’ve stored all my laces, ribbons and haberdashery trims on specially made boards, so they could be easily accessed, kept untangled and look shabbiliciously beautiful.
I released 3 designs for my own lace and ribbon boards back in 2011 and it was definitely one of my most popular E-pattern designs.
Today I’m sharing a new vintage design and lace board template with you, so you can make some for your own creative space.
They are very easy to make.
My boards are constructed using 3 mm MDF, which provides a light but stable and non-bending substrate. I’ve cut them out with a scroll saw, but if you don’t have access to a scroll saw or jigsaw, this design can also be made out of balsa wood or thick cardboard, which is available from craft supplies and cut to shape with a craft knife.
Materials
- 3 mm MDF for board shapes or alternative substrate (balsa wood or cardboard),
- Scroll saw or jigsaw for wood; or craft knife if using balsa wood or cardboard,
- Mod Podge and foam brush,
- Scissors and sanding tool – nail file, sandpaper or rotary tool,
- Printed graphic and template file – available HERE,
- Flat brush 1/2” and DecoArt Americana paint, Light Mocha.
[front view]
Preparations
Transfer board pattern template to MDF and cut out shapes with a scroll saw. Alternatively, they could be cut from thick card or scrapbooking chipboard.
Sand edges of wood smooth with fine sandpaper. Paint edges of boards with 2 smooth even coats of Light Mocha paint, allowing drying time between coats.
Print vintage design on matt photo paper, using photo settings on printer. Cut excess white paper away from printed designs.
[back view]
Instructions
Covering your boards: When using Mod Podge, always paint a light coat of Mod Podge on both surfaces to be adhered; the face of your board and the back of your printed design. This allows for some movement and realignment of your paper and board.
Line up your printed paper with the board…. there will be a small amount of excess around the edge. Apply Mod Podge to both surfaces and position paper on your board. Use a squeegee or an old credit card (or any kind of plastic card) to smooth the surface, working from the centre outwards.
Wipe off any excess Mod Podge that oozes over the edge and leave to dry.
Trim the paper close to the edge of board. Cut slits in paper from the outer edge back to the board to make sanding easier. I use an everyday coarse nail file to remove excess paper. You can use sandpaper too (which is a little more tedious) or an electric rotary tool if you have one. I use a rotary tool if making a lot, but still prefer to finish off the edges and add a little distressing with the nail file.
Optional: It is up to you whether you seal your boards with Mod Podge to protect them.
All that’s left to do now is add your ribbons, laces and pretty trims to your new boards.
Happy crafting
♥
Kerryanne
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Kerryanne, these are absolutely amazing, love them all! ♥
I’ve never used matt photo paper before for image transfers, but now I’ll have to just do that, I really like the final look you get 🙂
Thanks for sharing this awesome project, pinning to share the love.
Hugs,
Diana
I get a matt photo paper here Diana that is only 80 – 100 grams, so very light and perfect for using in craft projects. I hope you have fun with this project and I know you’ll add your own magic to it 🙂 xx
As a new follower I have just discovered these beautiful and useful larger sized ribbon boards!! My trims are all stuffed in large heavy and cumbersome jars. I cannot wait to put everything on these wonderful boards. How easy it will be to use and gather materials now and easily put them away. Thank you so much for all your beautiful and creative, inspired
projects and ideas, Kerryanne!
Kerryanne, these are so lovely; thank you.
I have some lace wound on old bobbins and now I can make a couple of these and let a few more lovely pieces come out of hiding.
Your instructions look so easy; now for a trip to the craft shop!
They are pretty easy to make Elaine, but a word of warning… they can become addictive! I even specially made boxes to hold them all – lol 🙂
These are absolutely gorgeous Kerryanne. Love making your designs. Thankyou for sharing. Take care, Rhonda
Hope you have as much fun making these as I do Rhonda 🙂
Can’t possibly tell you how much I love these and so appreciate your generosity sharing them with us all. Thank you so much. There is a wood by- product called “masonite” that is quite sturdy and would be so great for these boards. Can’t wait to get what I need to make these as I have lots of lace and ribbons and trims to organize. When we lived in KY (Bowling Green area) I found a great designer store to buy excess laces, ribbons, trims so still have quite a bit to use. Before I use any on a project I hesitate and ask myself if I really want to use the item. Don’t live in KY anymore and have no idea where I could find a store like that around here.. Got several pieces of wonderful fabric at that store. We now live in western CO.
These will be so pretty to have in my sewing room. I’m lucky to have sewing and craft rooms. We have single wide manufactured home, 16×80 and our two extra rooms are at front end of home, they are really small rooms but serve purpose I need them for. Thanks so much again for sharing this.
Don’t know if you have manufactured homes in Australia? We’d love to have double wide (much more like regular house) but way too expensive here.
Have wonderful week. Happy days
We have MDF here in Australia Jane Ellen, but I know that it is not sold worldwide. I hope the masonite works out for you. Alternatively, you could use heavy cardboard too. I hope you enjoy this project 🙂
These look beautiful and what a lovely way to store all those fabulous trims.
Toni xx
Heaps better than a bag full of knotted and twisted ribbons Toni, which I used to be guilty of. I love the boards for organised craft storage and use them for everything from notions to dolls hair! xxx
How lovely! Thank you so much for sharing the patterns and graphics. I hope to make some for myself and as gifts.
They make great gifts Jackie… I’ve been known to gift them many times over the years. They look lovely already wrapped with notions when given as a gift and they are like two gifts in one 🙂
Hi Kerryanne,
As I am stuck inside I decided to make the most of it and reorganize by ribbon box. I can’t wait to wait to make the larger ones, but do you have a template for the smaller ones? I only saw the link for the template for the larger ones, but might of missed it. I wanted the multiple sizes as I have a lot of ribbon and lace. I think this project will keep my busy for a while. Thank you for all your projects you post! I’ve gotten credit for making beautiful things and tell everyone that the artist is Kerryanne!
Hi Danielle, I’m glad you found the larger lace boards. I have a blog post coming up in the first week of April that will be perfect for you and includes small lace boards.
Enjoy your crafting time!!
Hugs,
Kerryanne
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing this project.
I would like to download DIY ~ Vintage Lace & Ribbon Boards- but I cannot seem to get it to work. Can you please lead me on how to download it? I love your products!
Hi Joyce,
Under the ‘materials’ heading you’ll see some gold text, that’s a link to open another download window… click on that gold link and save the PDF file to your own computer.
Hope that helps sweetie. If not, please feel free to email me at [email protected] and I’ll help you with it 🙂
Happy crafting,
Kerryanne