tennis, anyone?

**IMPORTANT NOTE:  I've just been informed that this is actually a badminton racquet.  That does not make this any less cool, it's just a reminder of how, despite growing up on Long Island, the whole tennis thing just didn't take.

Just one score tagging this morning, but it was a goodie!  I've been collecting old tennis racquet presses for a while because I think they'll make great frames.  I picked one up today with tennis racquet still inside.  Old, cool and $2.  Need I say more?  

A friend with a recent birthday is a huge tennis guy, so I started poking around on the intergoogles to see what I could do with it.  Lo and behold, the world has been busy repurposing tennis racquets without me!  I liked the idea of making a bulletin board best, and followed this great tutorial to make it, using a beat up tag sale bulletin board and a map from a 1961 atlas found curbside (!!)  

Since our motto is "we screw up so you don't have to," I offer the following tips:

• crease the paper into the racquet frame for the cleanest trace
• cut the cork with a sharp knife and don't saw (cork crumbles and this just makes it worse)
• cut flaps around the paper before affixing it to the back - the corners wrap more easily
• old racquets are warped (duh), so make sure you know which side is up when you cover the cork so your map doesn't end up upside down like mine (though you can always hang with the handle up)
• pre-fab cork (sold at stores like Michael's) would definitely cut more easily and tuck into the frame more cleanly (you can see mine is not a perfect fit), but I have yet to score any at tag sales, and bulletin boards are in abundance

bonus thumbtacks (recycled buttons 

covered with maps hot-glued onto tacks)

thumbtack holding tiny card 

(less to write!) made with 

decoupage paper and map scraps

cutest boy ever makes every

project look better