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Travel Map Cork Board- Ballard Inspired Knockoff

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This is a story of how an yard sale picture frame transformed into a travel map cork board, all inspired by a very expensive cork board found at Ballard Designs, and how you can make your very own.

I had been looking at THESE Madison cork boards from Ballard Designs, and knew there was no way under the sun that I’d ever pay the price they were asking, but that there had to be a way to make my own.
I found my frame at the end of a Saturday yard sale marked down to only $5. It’s a solid frame in a standard 3’x2′ size, and I knew it would be perfect. 

Using black spray paint I had, I painted the frame black.
I had originally thought of purchasing a cork board from an office supply store, but they were a little more than I wanted to pay for one the size I wanted. For plan B, I found a roll of cork for about $5 at Home Depot, and using gorilla glue and spray adhesive I already had on hand, I attached the cork to the cardboard backing that came with the frame. I trimmed the edges with scissors, and popped it right into the frame. It is a bit thinner than a regular corkboard would be, but for my purposes it’s worked fine. If you want something thicker, you may want to invest the $30 or $40 and buy a board to fit your frame.

At this point, for only $10, I had the end result I was originally looking for, to knock off the Ballard board. But in reality, I realized really didn’t need or have space in my office for such a large piece.

So, I decided to take it one step further, and make it into a travel map for my daughter.
Using my new Silhouette Cameo, I cut a map of the world out of vinyl. Using the vinyl as a stencil, I (and my three year old helper) painted in the countries black.

Now, she can pin locations she’s traveled, as well as travel mementos, keepsake papers, plane tickets, and photos of her adventures.

Supplies used:
Krylon spray paint- black
cork roll
Gorilla glue
Spray adhesive
Silhouette vinyl

Black craft paint by DecoArt

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Comments

  1. Nicole@Thrifty Decorating says

    Wow! This is amazing! I'd love to feature it next week on Thrifty Thursday! 🙂

  4. Kathy says

    Visiting from "Katherine's Corner". I've seen this in the Ballard's Catalogue and have thought "cool, but waaaaaay too expensive". I love your creativity here…totally awesome solution!

    Kathy