clipboard crafting

my close friend and college roommate's birthday was thursday, and she is less than a year away from being a teacher. she's going to be an amazing teacher. i've been meaning to give her this clipboard for sometime (since she graduated from undergrad in may--yeah i'm a bit of a procrastinator) but i never found the time to finish it.

so when i found out that a few of her friends and family were getting together to go eat and celebrate her 24th year, i made sure to find the time to finish. she seemed that she liked it when she unwrapped it--or at least pretended to if not. :) it definitely has its imperfections, but it was a first, and i was overall pleased with how it came out.

i think presents are that much better when you make them. every detail in just this clip board was something that i thought she would like from the paper colors/pattern to the font of her "k" and her name. i just hope she gets to use it. i don't know a lot about teacher supplies, but i know mine always had clipboards in reach. so i guess we'll see!

here are a few more pics with the clip board on paper since our carpet is hideous :) :







how to:
it was pretty easy, i just get distracted easily and rarely finish craft projects in one sitting

what i used:
:: 2 sheets of coordinating 12x12 decorative paper from hobby lobby/michaels
:: white paper
:: modge podge or another type of decoupage glue
:: hot glue gun
:: a clip board
:: white acrylic paint
:: thick ribbon
:: optional a thinner coordinating ribbon

:: first, i painted the clip board's edges white--it took a few coats
:: next, i cut/fit the paper to the board, glued it down then glued over the paper to give it a shine--repeat on back (looking back, i would have cut the paper shorter on the back, so it didn't show after the ribbon but live and learn)
:: while i was waiting for it to dry, i found a "k" font i liked in word...blew it up and reflected the "k" in word (this was so i could print it out directly on the back of the decorative paper and just cut it out, so it would facing be the correct way).
:: after i cut the "k" out, i glued it down and brushed over it with the glue to keep the edges down

i apparently let the glue for the "k" dry for about 5 months...i picked the project again here:

:: i hot glued the thicker ribbon at the top (i had to make sure the two ends were in a place where you couldn't see them, so i hid them under the clip)
:: after the hot glue was dry, i brushed over the ribbon with the glue to give it a finish
:: then i tied the other thinner ribbon to the top of the clip
:: the last thing i did was find a font i liked with "miss sherer" and typed it twice at the bottom. after printing about 10 sheets, i cut them down the middle and clipped them to the board