Sea and Wood: Now That's What *I* Call Scrapping

No, not playground fighting, silly (and I'm sorry but I don't get the attraction of scrapbooking, really!). But don't you love it when a project comes together with almost zero financial investment? When you've been able to reuse, recycle and recondition almost all the parts?

A few weeks ago, I bought a "Tesco Value" cork board for 99p, with a vague idea to hang jewellery on it as I'm a bit tired of not being able to find anything. But I was very annoyed when I unwrapped it - the pins provided went straight through as the cork was so thin and crappy! How rubbish is that (Mr Tesco, you should be ashamed). But, not one to be defeated, I had a scout around the house and thought about how I could still have my jewellery board and not waste even the rubbishy cork board, whilst not spending any more money (other than to buy another packet of pins for 79p from the post office, as there were only four provided!).

So here's what I did - and how you can make one too!

0) Bribe small child with enough Bagpuss, Sticky Kids and biscuits to get some clear working space. Cost: 0p because these are home-made biscuits, naturally.

1) Cut two pieces of cardboard from old packaging, to fit inside the frame of the cork board. Steal child's PVA glue and stick one of these pieces to the back to protect your walls. Cost: 99p (for the board)

2) Hunt out some old acrylic paint from a previous project. I painted the pine frame here with the paint I bought to do the daisies on K's picturebook shelves - in the end it took three coats; it's supposed to be "gold lustre" but actually it's not a bad match to the beech furniture we have around the house. Cost: 99p

3) In between coats, make the front of your board. Take the other piece of cardboard and cover it with fabric - I had a scrap of black lycra velvet lying around with a horrible burn or wax drip on it (I suspect it'd been used as a tablecloth for a roleplaying session 13+ years ago - I am a terrible packrat for this kind of thing!). You can cover it any way you like; I used sticky tape and then laced it together and mitred the corners with thread (also left over from another project, that's why it's rubbish yellow thread and not my good black Gutermann stuff!). Cost: still 99p

4) Whilst pins are fine for necklaces and bracelets, they're not so good for earrings - so dig out some ribbon to hang them from. I was surprised and delighted to rediscover this broad gold piece squirrelled away in my nan's old sewing box. It came from a box of chocolate cherry liqueurs bought in Brussels from Neuhaus at some point before I got married, so it's at least 6+ years old. Take a minute to have some happy memories over what you find, then pin securely (it must be stretched tightly to bear the weight) and stitch the ribbon to the back of the fabric. Make sure any icky spots are covered by the ribbon...! Cost: more 99p

5) Dollop a ton of PVA onto the cork board, spread it around with loads in the corners (I am still in two minds as to whether this is strong enough - I will be repairing with No More Nails if not!) and put your fabric-coated board on top. Squash down with a heavy box until dry. Cost: STILL 99p.

6) Add rows of push pins (79p from the local post office). Total cost: £1.78, a biscuit, and a few extra moment's digging in stash time (hardly a hardship!).