Upcycled Clipboard Projects: You Never Knew that an Old Clipboard Could be This Useful!

colorful clipboards via ShutterstockDon’t we all have a couple of unloved, unused clipboards lying around? I have exactly four: two full-sized clipboards that I bought for my girls to use to do schoolwork in the car (they’d rather listen to audiobooks and fight), and two half-sized clipboards that the girls snookered me into buying for them during some big-box back-to-school sale or other (half the size, double the uselessness!).

I’m currently working on a project to revamp our clipboards from dust-catching shelf-clutterers into something actually usable–otherwise, they’re off to Goodwill next weekend–but until then, join me in checking out these DIY upcycled clipboard projects from across the web. Clipboards actually ARE useful!

Chalkboard Travel Toy: Along the lines of Wooly Willy, but with a package of chalk instead of a little magnet wand, this chalkboard clipboard travel toy from Apartment Therapy features a figure, hand-painted with chalkboard paint, that young travelers can embellish, wipe away, and embellish again. Use DIY colored chalkboard paint to cheaply paint your chalkboard design in exactly the custom colors that you want.

Clipboard Photo Holders: For a very simple, very do-able way to get all those family photos up on your wall, check out how easily Lifeflix made lovely mini clipboard photo holders for her wall. Instead of decoupaging paper onto the clipboards to give them some color, she clipped muslin fabric behind the photos, adding dimension and softness to those sweet baby photos. For a whole new look, use a whole new fabric!

glass-framed clipboard from Better Homes and Gardens

Framed Clipboard Artwork: If your photographs are going to be on display for a while, you want to protect them from dust, so your average clipboard framing solution just won’t do. This glass-framed clipboard from Better Homes and Gardens looks more sophisticated, and offers a more permanent display solution. It requires the glass from an old picture frame, a drill, and a couple of screws with washers–don’t you already have all that taking up space somewhere else in your house?

Altered Clipboard Art: Okay, now we’re getting really fancy! No tutorial needed here–instead, take a look at the Wish Altered Mini Clipboard from Sugar Lump Studios and dream about the ways that you, too, could take some paint, some old photographs, some scrapbook supplies, and some orphaned holiday decorations and create your own beautiful piece of wall art out of an ordinary, unsuspecting clipboard.

Upcycled Clipboard Advent Calendar: For a simple countdown calendar that could be used for any holiday (a birthday, perhaps?), check out how eighteen25 upcycled an ordinary clipboard into a festive Advent calendar that counts down the days until Christmas. For upcycling bonus points, trace and cut the large calendar numbers out of magazine pages, cardboard packaging or brown paper bags, or even fabric.

Embellished Monogrammed Clipboards: If you can’t use it, pass it on! Even though my girls seem far less interested in their mini clipboards after they succeeded in getting me to shell out the two bucks for them, there is no shortage of other kids in the world who might like them better–as a birthday gift, perhaps? Let’s Explore has a kid-friendly clipboard embellishing project, utilizing one simple template that a kid can use to cut a new paper backing out of stash or recycled paper, a single letter monogram, and a couple of vintage buttons or other decorations for the clip. Add a little notebook and a brand-new pencil, and your kid has a birthday party-ready present, probably all from stuff you already have around the house.

[colorful clipboards image via Shutterstock; glass-framed clipboard image from Better Homes and Gardens]

 

2 thoughts on “Upcycled Clipboard Projects: You Never Knew that an Old Clipboard Could be This Useful!”

  1. I really love the Idea for the clipboard Photo-holders! I do photography and I bet that would be an amazing way to sell! Its so different, yet tasteful! Thank you for the share!

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