recycle refurbish reuse rejoice!

so there's something interesting about nyc. people throw away the BEST things. maybe not the best, but most people would rather chuck something than move it...so if you want to get rid of something, just put it out on your steps.

anyway, i found this ugly thing outside my building the other day and thought it looked promising. i have to admit, this is the first thing i've ever scavenged from the nyc sidewalks, unless you count that 2007 zagat handbook.

i started out cleaning off this cork board. it's giant actually, so i'm excited about the possibilities. think of all the great black and white photos you can hang on this:

then, i hot glued a bright green fabric strip to one side, the most beat up part of the board. i used a butter knife to push the fabric edges into the frame. then i finished off the exposed side of the fabric with a strip of brown ribbon.

next i decided to make a couple of matching pushpins. i couldn't resist since i knew they'd at least be handy and cute.

and here's the finished product:

all in all a CHEAP fix to a bare wall. i didn't need to buy any supplies since i had everything, but if one did have to buy the supplies i would say it would still cost under ten dollars to make. any questions, just let me know!

ps: welcome to the lovely 'bird and squirrel' blog over in the linkerwiththis sidebar --> thanks to her for being an avid blog follower person thingy :)