DIY Hair Accessory Board!

I am always trying to find new ways to de-clutter my home, and put the things that I think are cute on display! Especially after opening our shop and beginning in the venture of making hair accessories, I have found that I had SO many cute hair lovelies, but nowhere to put them!

Here is our step-by-step tutorial on how to construct your very own display-worthy, hair accessory board!

**Note: There are several variations of this frame – everything from the size/shape of the frame,  the color it is painted, and whether or not you choose to distress your frames (I’m a sucker for anything distressed, so we did distress ours) the total look of the frame can drastically change!**

You will need:

• Picture frame - (I would suggest anything 8x10 or larger for sufficient storage – and real wood frames work much better than the plastic ones, we tried one of these, but it did not turn out nearly as cute as the wooden frames did!)
• Sand Paper - (we used a sanding block)
• Chicken wire -(can be found by the roll at any farm or home improvement store – our roll of 10’ was $6.00 and we didn’t even put a dent into the roll – plenty more left for more cute frames!)
• Paint -  we used your average Krylon spray paint, and a clear seal.
• Wire cutters
• Hammer
• Staple Gun
• GLOVES!!! – I learned the hard way that chicken wire is NOT very forgiving, and have battle wounds to show for it.

Optional:

• Mason jar – I attached one of these to my finished frame to use for bobby pin storage
• Fabric for the back – we will show you both looks – I backed one frame with burlap, Kendel chose to leave hers open - both looks are adorable, and very different.

Step 1:  Prep your frame for painting – we did not choose to prime our pieces, as the natural wood finish on the one was great, and the other frame had a dark pink color that we planned on playing off of for the distressing.

Depending on the condition of your frame (both of these were thrift store finds and kind of banged up to say the least – but for $.50 each how can you complain?!) you can sand out some of the rough areas.

Now you’re ready for the fun (and time consuming part!)

Step 2:  Pain your frame! – We took advantage of a sunny day and sprayed each of the pieces. The hardest part is waiting for the pain to dry – because we were both so excited to see our finished products!

Step 3: Distress your frame – My favorite part – after the paint is dry, grab your hammer to make dents, your sanding block to sand off paint, and have at it! I think the distressing gives these frames so much character!

Step 4: Operation Chicken Wire – This is where the gloves come in handy! Simply line up your chicken wire to the back of your frame. Once you have measured the appropriate size of your chicken wire, simply snip with your wire cutters, leaving about an inch of chicken wire over the empty space of the frame (your chicken wire should lay on part of the base of the frame at this point)

Step 5:  Attaching your Chicken Wire – It’s as simple as this – each section of wire that hangs over onto the base of the frame, simply staple gun it to the frame. After you have done this entirely around the frame, snip the extra. If you’re not very staple gun savvy like me, I used the hammer to ensure that the wire wouldn’t slip out of the staples, and was tight to the frame.

If you have chosen to leave your frame with just the chicken wire – then VIOLA, you are done!

If you want to attach a backing to your frame, continue to Step 6.

Step 6: Attaching the fabric backing – This process is very similar to Step5 but with fabric. Measure out your fabric (I also used this to make the back of my piece look more finished) the same size as your frame. Use your staple gun again to attach the fabric to the back of the frame. Be sure to pull your fabric tight as you are stapling so it does not sag into the chicken wire holes when the piece is hanging.

Step 7:  Hang your frame! – {Oooh, Ahhh, isn’t it adorable!?} We ended up using two different methods for hanging the frames and both have worked just fine. One of the frames originally came with a hanger on it – before we painted, we removed it, and simply re-attached it after we were finished.

The other frame did not have a hanger – for this frame, we used an extra piece of the wire, made a small half circle with the loop part on top, secured it to the frame and used this to hang the other.

Attaching the Mason Jar

I used a small size mason jar for bobby pin storage on my personal frame. I thought the jar went with the fun “distressed” look of the frame – and I’m always trying to round up lost bobby pins! 

• Use regular metal wire (our roll of chicken wire came with a piece that was holding it all together, so I just used that) and wrap around the threads of your jar (where the lid would screw down onto). 
• After you have wrapped the wire around the threading (I found 3 times around the jar made for a pretty secure hold), you can use the remaining wire to secure the thread to the frame. 
• Use one side to pass over the inside section of the frame, and the other on the outside of the frame. Attach the two ends on the base of the frame on the back and twist. Staple the wire to the back of the frame to secure. The jar should be secure and not wobble too much.

Are you a headband girl?

We used mini-clothes pins to hold headbands on the frame! They look cute, and don’t worry; the clothespin didn’t put a dent/mark on any of our headbands.

This frame is a cute alternative from squished flowers and bows shoved in a drawer, loose bobby pins, and plus, you get to show off all of your cute hair lovelies! 

***Join us in our first link party! We are co-hosting with Melissa over at the Not So Ordinary Wife, and some other great girls! Be sure to check out their blogs - it's such a great chance to meet some new bloggy firends!**
Linking up with "Let Birds Fly" too!