I was given a Scratch Map for my birthday. The idea is you keep track of the countries you’ve visited by scratching them off to uncover the colourful map below. The dilemma I faced was how to hang it on the wall.
I could have blue-tacked it to the wall, but I wanted to make a feature of it. Framing it was no good, because I wouldn’t be able to scratch it under the glass. I thought about attaching it to corkboard, but had trouble finding one the right size and custom sizes were very expensive.
Then I stumbled across this blog post for a DIY poster hanger!
The result was great, and much more affordable than professional framing! I bought a length of pine from Bunnings Warehouse for about $5, and a small can of walnut coloured stain for $15. After a few coats of stain, I had a nice dark wood. Some drilling and a few bolts later, my frame was ready to hang!
I pretty much followed Katie’s instructions as they are, but rather than hanging the frame with string I attached it to the wall with a couple of Command Picture Hanging Strips allowing the wood to hang flat on wall. I put two behind the bottom piece of wood as well to help take some of the weight of the poster.
Applying the stain was quite easy – I brushed it on to the wood, allowed it to sit for a few minutes then wiped off the excess with a dry cloth. All up, it took about 5 coats to get the shade I was after. I used a stain without varnish, and there was no risk of brush strokes given the wood was wiped after each coat. The end result looked really good, with the grain of the wood coming through under the stain.
I’m very happy with the finished product – thanks Katie for the helpful guide. Time to plan another holiday so I can scratch off more of my map!
