Until we moved to Colorado a year and a half ago, I had never had a fireplace, therefore I’d never had a mantle. When we got here, I was like, “What the heck am I supposed to put up there?” Which, naturally, led to hours of trolling Pinterest for mantle displays (because there are, like, a bajillion mantle pins).
Now I love decorating my mantle for each passing holiday, much like the rest of the Pinterest addicts. I like to change out seasonal artwork, but don’t always have frames handy. Plus, ever since I hung Ruby (our little DIY antler friend), things have gotten a bit more rustic up there and I wanted something to complement her.
So I decided to create a clipboard display made from reclaimed wood; something that would allow me to easily change out artwork whenever I felt the need.
Hobby Lobby usually serves all my DIY needs, and this time was no exception. I picked up a pack of reclaimed wooden boards that I’d been eyeing (but hadn’t yet pulled the trigger on because I couldn’t figure out what to do with them) for $7 (plus I used a 40% of coupon, so they were crazy cheap). I also picked up some clipboard hardware for $4.99.
This project was so easy (although I guess I shouldn’t speak for my husband since he did all the work…). We used some leftover 1x2s that we had in the garage and cut them a little shorter than the width of all the boards when they were laid next to each other. He cut 2 boards, one for the top of the display and one for the bottom. Then he simply used 1 1/4” screws to secure the 1x2s to the wooden boards so that they would form one solid display piece.
All that was left was to screw in the clipboard hardware. I placed it up high enough so that when I clipped an 8×10” print on the board, it would be centered vertically. P.S. I didn’t need to trim the reclaimed wood boards down at all because they were just the right height for what I wanted, but you could definitely trim your boards to size if need be before you begin the project.
The project can end here, or you can add another 1×2 with a hinge to the back side of the display so that you can give your display a little kick-stand, allowing it to stand up on its own. I did this initially because I used two of these displays at a pop-up show and they had to stand on their own on the table. But when I was finished with the show, I removed the kickstand from one, knowing that I would be leaning it up against the wall on my mantle.
I love the finished product! It’s the perfect little rustic display for my mantle and gives some visual height to what I’ve got going on as well.