When Hometalk announced the redecorating of its New York offices and was looking for office decor items, it was game on! The challenge put out to the community was to come up with DIY creations that would inspire. There was even an optional caveat to incorporate some element of Hometalk such as the teal colour, the word Hometalk or the logo. For that, some cork board decor is in order!
I took the challenge to heart. Afterall, our office space is a home away from home. Or closer than that if you’re lucky enough to work at home. Below are three different, but easy, office inspired decor projects that staff can use to embellish their own personal office space. They all keep form and function in mind! I upcycled several items I already had and the rest is from the dollar store.
I chose to use Hometalk’s logo in these designs, but there’s no limiting your own creativity. These can be adapted to any shape!
Cork Board Decor Project #1
Test Tube ‘Inspire’ Flower Arrangement
Who doesn’t want to add a little beauty in their office space in the form of fresh flowers?
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Cork Board Decor #1
Supplies:
- A 9 3/4″ square cork trivet (I get mine at Ikea)
- Part of a binder clip – or 3M strips – as a hanging device
- Plastic floral tubes (the ones you get with floral arrangements; courtesy of Hubs who buys me flowers – a lot!
- Sheet of acetate (for stencil)
- Large vinyl coated eye hooks (be sure they fit the test tubes; mine are 1 3/4″)
- Paint (teal and white)
- Glue gun & glue
- Push pin
I was able to use the extra cork from the smaller project as the centre of the larger one.
Start by scaling the hometalk logo. The large one fits an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper and the small one is 6 1/2″. Now draw both the outer and inner outline and cut the paper out. Trace the logo onto the cork with a pen (I traced it onto the back of the cork, but you could do it from the front instead).
Here you can see the size difference between the first two projects:
Cut the Cork
Hubs uses a bandsaw to cut most of the pieces for me. But I also used a dollar store fine tooth hack saw on the centre section (it’s slow but works fine).
Take a piece of 100 grit sandpaper and round over any square cut edges to match the rest of the trivet. I find that a beveled sanding sponge is also useful to help round over the edges.
Paint
Spray or brush blue paint on the outer piece and white on the centre piece of cork you cut out of scrap.
Print out the word ‘inspire’, place it under a sheet of acetate and place a self healing cutting mat under your work. Then cut out the stencil with an X-acto knife and position it over the cork. Using white paint on a very dry brush, pounce it over the lettering to keep the paint from bleeding under the stencil. If you do get some bleeding, you can touch it up with a fine brush with the blue. Also outline the lettering with a fine black marker to give it definition (as you can see, I test it first on the cork with my initial which will be hidden later with another piece of cork!)
For the centre, figure out the positioning for the eye hooks and pierce starter holes with a toothpick. Flip it over and add double face tape onto the back. Peel off the tape and position on the front of the larger piece of cork. Using the starter holes, screw in the eye hooks and position them so that they are pointing to one side. This double layer of cork accommodates the depth of the screw; otherwise it will poke out the back! Rest the plastic test tubes in the centre of the eye hooks.
Hang
Squeeze to remove one half of a binder clip arm and hot glue onto the back of the cork at the top to act as a hanging loop (you can glue a scrap piece of felt or foam over the ends to prevent it from scratching the surface it will be mounted to). You can then use a push pin to attach the hanging loop to your cubicle wall! Alternatively, you could use 3M strips if mounting to a wall.
All that’s left is to go out a buy a few flower stems to complete it. Lift out the tubes, remove the tops and fill the tubes with water. Cut the stems and insert through the top first and then pop the top back onto the tube; close tightly.
Cork Board Decor Project #2
Business Card and Post-It Note Organizer
Cork Board Decor #2 Supplies:
- Post-it notes
- Cork Trivet
- Cassette tape
- White foam
- Part of a binder clip – or 3M strips – as a hanging device
- Double face tape
- Glue gun & glue
- Paint (teal only)
- Push pin
Follow the steps above to cut and paint your piece. Although I still use cork, the middle section of this one is made of white foam instead. You can tell I’ve had this foam for a while because that’s when items at the dollar store really did cost a dollar – not $1.25 or $2.00 or even $3.00!
Business Card Holder
Can you guess what the business card holder is? It’s one half of an old tape cassette plastic shell!
Open the cassette and take out the tape and paper. The two pieces of the ‘hinge’ can be separated giving you a pocket piece to hold some of your business cards.
Position the tape cassette tape case under the white foam. Once happy with the positioning, double face tape it to the cork. Then apply double face tape to the foam and position it onto the cork and over the top portion of the cassette tape case hiding the edge.
Once that’s done, you can add some sticky notes to the centre. Now, if you can find white to blend in with the foam, all the better (I just used what I had on-hand). Hubs used a chop saw to cut the bottom of a regular stack of Post-it notes into the shape of a house to mimic the Hometalk Logo. Since I only did this for demonstration purposes, I wouldn’t do it again: paper flew everywhere and it was hard to clamp so probably not the safest thing to cut. We made sure we were not cutting the top side with the glue or we’d be cutting away all the adhesive!
Hang
Again, add the other half of the binder clip arm as you did in the first project and hang. You can velcro a pen to the side if you wish, as shown in the third project below.
If you like, you can also add some scissors by attaching another cup hook to hang them. The backer board shown below is made of wood and I didn’t end up using it for this particular project – or adding the scissors – because I went with a smaller size. As an option, I could have completed this one and added dry erase film as the white centre to make this into a dry erase message board.
Logo Idea
For my own office in my craft room-in-progress, I would use cork in a round shape and fashion my trademark Birdz of a Feather logo into a message board using chalk board paint on one side and dry erase film on the other. The options are endless!
‘Inspire’ Dry Erase To-Do Board
Project #3 Supplies:
- Dollar store frame
- Card stock
- Printer with colour ink
- Dry erase pen
- Self-sticking velcro
Last, but not least, is a dry erase to-do board for the desk top. All you need is a 4″ x 6″ frame from the dollar store with glass that slides out, a dry erase marker, some card stock, a printer and self adhesive velcro.
I use illustrator to design the to-do list. Then I add ‘inspire’ down the side so it fades into the background but is still noticeable.
If you want to print your own Hometalk to-do list/dry erase board, I’ve attached the pdf for you to make your own! Dry Erase Board Printout
Once printed, cut the card to 4″ x 6″ with a paper cutter.
Add a small piece of self adhesive velcro onto the dry erase marker and the side of the picture frame stand so you can keep them together (rough side goes on the frame). Slip the cardstock behind the glass, write our your to-do list and you’re ready to tackle your day.
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I still have that piece of wooden board left that I showed earlier and have come up with a few more office decor projects. I won’t divulge what they are just yet; you’ll just have to follow my blog if you’re curious to see them once they’re posted!
At Birdz of a Feather, we’re feathering the nest… one room at a time.
You are so darn clever! I love what you’ve created here and I’ve no doubt that the Hometalk crew will be inspired as well. The idea of using a cork trivet is also inspired. I would love to see this hanging in someone’s office, complete with tiny flower buds.
Oh and the cassette tape holder for business cards is another great idea. I love your ideas, Sara!
Thanks Alys! It’s a holiday here tomorrow and not everything is open today; I’d love to get a few flower buds so I can get a proper ‘after’ shot, but it may have to wait a few days 🙂
I just updated my post; I couldn’t wait to get flowers – it finally looks finished 🙂
🙂 Flowers are worth the wait.