DIY Vintage Window Frame Turned Burlap Bulletin Board

It was back in March I wrote my very first Head Over Heels Friday post.  If you take a look back, it was all about different ways you can use vintage windows for weddings.  I wrote that post at that time because fellow Minnesotan blogger Lauren had asked through blog comments for ideas on how she could use them for her 'Big Fat Farm Wedding'.  As blog fate would have it, Lauren and I have actually become real in person friends since then, and she and Jesse are pretty much our neighbors now that they moved closer to Minneapolis! 

 Anyway, when I wrote that HOH post I told Lauren that I would love for her to have one of our vintage windows (original to our house, just sitting in the basement) to use for their wedding.  With only a few weeks until their BIG DAY, Lauren decided to take me up on the offer!  Even though she is in the middle of wedding madness, she thought it would be fun to get together for some food and drinks while doing some 'farts and crafts'- as she calls it :) 

Our project?  This Vintage Window Frame Turned Burlap and Twine Bulletin Board!  It turned out perfect for their rustic barn themed wedding (check out her inspiration board here, so beautiful)!

So how did we put it together?  Let's take a DIY trip starting down in our scary basement, here we go!

The day before Lauren came over I had to get the window ready for this project.  First, I snuck under the stairs in our basement to grab one of the windows. The windows are all a dark green, Lauren was digging the chippy white type of looks, so once I pulled this window out I started cleaning it up to prep for paint.

Painting was pretty simple.  Since she liked the more distressed looks I didn't have to make it perfect and one coat of paint was fine.

Also, since we weren't going to use the glass I didn't even have to bust out my trusty blue painters tape!  I always hate that part of painting :)

Once the paint was dry it was time to remove the glass.  Alex considered this part dangerous so he wouldn't let me do it.  This photo was taken AFTER he broke the glass using a big rag towel (not sure why his hand is there?).  He wadded up the towel and pressed it down onto each pane so the glass would break out straight down under the frame.  This made it easier to clean up.  He put on some working gloves and carefully picked up the broken pieces of glass and safely disposed of them.

After those prep steps, the window was ready for Lauren and I to work on the project!  She arrived at our house the next day with tons of treats (including my favorite- CHEESE) and drinks.  Not gonna lie, it made this project pretty fun!  It was the first time I worked on a project with a friend and the social part of it made it seem like we weren't working at all.  Makes me think I need to have a 'farts and crafts' get together sometime (but maybe with an easier project).

Now, I didn't get a good photo of it, but underneath this layer of batting there is a piece of wood panel board from Home Depot cut to fit the size of the window frame (the wood measured 26" x 58"). 

Wood panel board + thin layer of batting cut to fit frame. Got it?

Next, we grabbed the staple gun and start attaching the batting to the panel board.  The layer of batting is to help make the board easy to pin pictures or notes to.  Note: make sure you know how to reload a staple gun! I think Lauren and I spent a good half hour trying to figure out how to reload the staple gun.  I really didn't want to ask Alex but we had to, then he of course laughed at us. 

Insert blonde joke: How many blondes does it take to reload a staple gun?  Answer: Still not sure, but more than 2 apparently :)

Here is a picture of the burlap bag we are using for this project.  It is the same style as the ones I used to make my pillows for the radiator bench (see that project in this link).  I got them at Online Fabric Store for only $2.40 each!  I cut the burlap sack along both sides (the long sides) so that we could open it up.  The sacks measured 27" x 40", so by opening up along the long sides the sack became a flat piece of burlap measuring 27" x 80"- plenty long to use on the board!

After we cut the burlap sack, we had to get the iron out since the burlap was quite wrinkled.  It is important to iron as best as you can on the highest heat with lots of steam so that the burlap will lay flat on the board. Does anyone else notice that ironing actual used burlap smells really weird/ gross???

Then, we grabbed our reloaded staple gun again to attach the burlap to the batting and backer panel board.

Once that was done I cut off all the excess burlap fabric.

The burlap bulletin board part is complete! 
After that, we had to flip the board over to push all the staples down.  Boy, there were a TON of staples!

Thankfully Alex came by to help with this part.  He grabbed some pliers and pressed all the staples down.  It was nice of him considering it gave Lauren and I a food and drink break :)

After all the staples were pressed down we grabbed the board and lined it up behind the window frame.  Note: the window frame is NOT attached to the board in this photo.

I did this because I thought adding twine would make a cute touch to the burlap.  Then, Lauren could also use clothespins and pin photos along the twine!  I used the frame as a guide for where I wanted the twine placed, then I just knotted it on.  Here you can see it tied on the back, if Lauren ever wants to remove it, it will be easy!

The last step was attaching the finished board to the wood window frame.  It is important to use thin nails so that you won't split the older wood in the window frame.  We used thin 5/8" nails shown here.

Once again, Alex stepped in to help :) After all the work on the board itself he didn't want us to accidentally split the wood with the nails.  You can also see where I lined up the twine on the back of the board.

Once the frame is attached to the board it is complete!  Ta-da!

Here is a closer look of the burlap texture, twine and distressed white wood finish.

Beautiful right?!?!

I am so happy with how it turned out and I had such a blast hanging out with Lauren in the process.  I also think it is so neat that a part of our house will be a small part in Jesse and Lauren's wedding day.  Then, it can be used in their newlywed nest!

So, do you love it? How perfect is it for a rustic barn wedding?!?
If you swing by Lauren and Jesse's blog make sure you send them some fun and encouraging wedding comments!  I know when I was a few weeks out from our wedding I was feeling a bit frazzled, I am sure Lauren would love some fun comments to get her excited about their big day!

PS- if you want to see what other projects we have done with our windows check out our Vintage Window Frame Chalkboard tutorial and our Hung Vintage Window Room Divider.

Just linked up to share this project!