I love all of the free seasonal printables I see on Pinterest, and I was determined to make a spot to easily display them in my home. So I created my own DIY wooden clipboard frame! Sneak peek below!
A clipboard-style frame is appealing to me, since I can easily change out the printables during each season and holiday. I worried that having to mess with a photo frame to change out a printable would result in me not doing it (surely I’m not the only one!).
I wanted a specific clipboard frame size to fit on my mantel below the mounted TV, and I love the look of a solid piece of wood stained dark. So I opted to make it myself. If you’d rather not DIY this project, there are lots of options for store-bought clipboard frames. I’ve got a section below dedicated to it, so scroll down!
Creating the DIY Wood Clipboard Frame
Spoiler alert: I used mostly materials I had on hand, so my only costs were the wood and the clip. This is a budget project if you have extra stain and/or scrap wood lying around!
I started with a 9″ wide x 10″ tall x 3/4″ thick cut piece of aspen. Measure the space where you’ll be displaying the clipboard frame, and customize your measurements! Keep in mind that most printables are square or vertical, and allow room for the clip at the top of the frame.
I sanded and wiped down the wood, opting for a light sanding to soften the edges. If you want a more rustic/worn look, sand more heavily for rounded edges.
Staining supplies:
- Pre-Stain
- Stain
- Rags (scissors to cut pieces)
- Latex gloves
- Bucket with some water (not shown) for disposing of rags
Here’s a close-up of the pre-stain and stain that I used. We already had this on hand, and I knew I loved the dark color of the “Dark Walnut” stain from a prior project.
Here is the wood after the pre-stain.
And here it is after two coats of the “Dark Walnut” stain.
I bought these bulldog clips from Hobby Lobby ($1.99). I really liked the brushed gold finish to give my clipboard frame some style.
After screwing on the clip, here is the finished product!
And here’s a side shot to show the depth of the wood. My clipboard will be leaning against a wall, so I didn’t install anything on the back to hold it up. If yours needs to be free-standing, adding a simple peg for it to lean back on should suffice.
Cute Clipboard Frames for Purchase
If you’d rather not go the DIY route, here are some cute clipboard frames from Target:
And a few more from Wayfair & Michael’s:
Displaying Summer Printables
I printed a couple of free summer printables to display on my new wooden clipboard frame this summer. This cute popsicle printable is from HappinessIsHomemade.net. I printed this on white cardstock at 80% scale, and it’s a perfect fit!
I also snagged this printable from IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor.com (that name cracks me up!). Who would have thought a Sublime song would turn into a printable – ha! I printed this on white cardstock at 80% scale using my black and white laser printer, so I wouldn’t use up a ton of black ink on my inkjet printer.
What would you display on a clipboard frame?