Transform a $1 Clipboard into a Cute Document Holder

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Most moms I know tend to roll their eyes at the mention of craft projects, probably because they already have enough dried glue sticks rattling around in their kids’ pencil boxes. However, the promise of transforming something ordinary into a boutique-worthy piece is encouraging, and if it won’t cost us much to fail, the prospect becomes almost irresistible.

Several months ago BirminghamMom listed self adhesive wrapping paper from Hallmark as a Find. There are probably 101 uses for this stuff, and this isn’t the place to exhaust all of them. However, I couldn’t resist sharing this tip to fix up a little $1 clip board from Wal Mart.

You don’t need adhesive wrapping paper to try this. Adhesive shelf liner like Con-Tact paper would obviously work (although good luck finding a cute pattern; can the Con-Tact R&D department get with Vera Bradley’s textile designers for some pointers on old fashioned things like color and scale?). A real crafter will not fear Mod Podge, which is only a couple of bucks at Michael’s and will adhere and seal beautiful papers like origami or even fabric to a surface.

Here I just centered the patterned, adhesive paper and used an X-acto knife to cut around the edges. I did the back side of the clipboard first, then flipped it and held the clip open to slip the paper beneath before trimming. Voila! Five minutes, tops. Who can believe this clipboard was only a buck? The pencil cup is just a repurposed Starbucks mocha canister.

Since this paper isn’t sealed with a varnish or Mod Podge-type substance, it won’t stand up to spills or heavy wear and tear. That’s okay, because this one isn’t intended for uses like note-taking or toting around. This clipboard essentially stays on display and makes my reminder lists look deceivingly well organized.

It works perfectly hanging on a large corkboard as a “featured zone” such as a place to display the week’s menu or grocery list. It’s also much better at holding a paper than a single thumbtack, since it doesn’t riddle the paper with holes and also allows the paper to be yanked away with one hand (yes, one-hand efficiency is important to moms, who are always holding something in the other hand anyway). When you need to take the checklist and head into another room, it’s easy to take the entire clipboard along and then return it to its home. I especially love how the clipboard makes it more difficult to lose whatever document is clipped to it. Note: The document must STAY CLIPPED to the board until you remove it. Enforce this rule!

You can pay a lot more for great-looking designer clipboards, but try this first. You’re only out a dollar or two if you don’t like it, and you can donate your leftover Mod Podge/paper scraps to the kids’ supply boxes when you’re done.