Adorable & Oh So Easy Display Boards

Earlier this week I was scheduled to participate in my first "show." I have a small (but growing) home based business and I had an opportunity to set up a booth at a local preschool/church along with some other mothers with businesses. This being my first booth I had no idea how to display my products. Fortunately there was a very popular show at another local church three days earlier that I decided to attend to hopefully get some display ideas. Well... I got some really good ideas (and spent a little money also).

What I needed was a way to display my personalized jewelry and gift pieces. Among the many displays I saw, there was one that really jumped out at me. I knew right away what I wanted to do. It was something I could make myself, not some boring store bought jewelry displays. Anyway, here is what I did. It was sooooo easy. It was complete in about 2 hours. YES you heard me right... only 2 hours and wallah... adorable yet functional displays.

Here are pictures of the supplies and the steps that it took to make these boards.

1. Supply List:
peg board cut to 18"x24" (or whatever size you want) (Home Depot will cut it for free)
paint (I used some that I already had leftover from painting my bathroom)
paintbrush
sand paper
ribbon
ric rac (not sure how to spell this but it's the black wavy ribbon along the bottom of my boards)
glue gun & glue
scotch tape
peg board hooks or "s" hooks

2. First I sanded the white side of the peg board so the paint would stick better. After cleaning off all the dust from sanding I painted the boards. I put 2 coats on 2 of the boards and only 1 coat on the other 2. (I made 2 displays and needed 2 boards for each display.) I really liked the streakiness of the boards with only 1 coat so I decided to leave them alone.

3. After the boards dried I was able to start weaving the ribbon along the first row of holes on the side that I wanted to be the top of the display. I put the two boards back to back, tied a knot at the end of the ribbon and began lacing. This is where the scotch tape comes in handy. I taped the end of the ribbon so it looked like the end of a shoe lace. This way it was much easier to push the ribbon through those little holes in the peg board. I pushed the ribbon down through the top and wrapped it over the edge of the board and back down through the next hole in the top. This way the top edge was covered and it looked "finished." Then on each end I added a bow.4. Next, to make it stand up I added a ribbon/hinge on both of the bottom corners. I cut the ribbon about 15" long, tied a knot in one end, pulled it through one board from back to front, wrapped it under the bottom edge and around the front of the other board, pulled it through and tied another knot. Easy as pie! 5. Next I decided that the boards needed something along the bottom to give it some "weight" so I got out the hot glue and ric rac and went to town. I glued the ric rac about 1/2" from the bottom and wrapped the edges around the back and glued them down.
I was done. All that was left was to add my "goods." Here was the result...
I thought they turned out great! I love them and the best part is I only spent about $17 total on both displays. I had most of the supplies on hand. All I had to buy was the peg board (2) 2'x4' sheets, the peg board hooks and a spool of ribbon. Can't beat that price for such cute boards. I got lots of compliments on them at the show.
This picture was taken at the show while we were packing up to go home. By "we" I mean "I" was packing up while my little "helper" danced around and ran up and down the halls playing with her buddies.

All in all I would say that my first show was a success. I'm ready for the next one now. Bring it on!