Thrifty DIY Instagram Background for under $10

I always admire those amazing Instagram posts where someone has a cup of coffee strategically placed next to the computer, along with a pair of sunglasses and some lipstick. They usually involve a really awesome backdrop, and I’m always wondering where people get these!

Well, I did some research and found that I could make one myself. But, it was about $40. My blog is on a tight budget y’all, so I decided to figure out an even thriftier way of making a cute backdrop. I hit up my local thrift shop, and found this old cutting board for $4.99. It had a few cut marks in it, but I decided to give this DIY project a whirl! I bought it and went to Home Depot for some paint. I picked up a Flat finish Behr paint sample in “silent white”, and brought it home to experiment. After I realized I forgot a paint brush, I decided to just wing it with a paper towel (and one less thing to buy!). I found a piece of sandpaper by the hubby’s work bench, and went to town. Here’s how I made it!

What you need:

• Large cutting board from the thrift store ($4.99)
• Paint sample of any paint you’d like ($2.94)
• Optional: paintbrush
• Optional: sandpaper (useful if the board has been cut up a lot)

Step one:

Lay out some newspaper so you don’t make a mess everywhere. I didn’t think about this until I actually needed to paint. Oops.

Step two: 

Lay your board across the paper, and sand it down to get rid of or lessen the appearance of any cuts the board had from the previous owner

Step three:

Clean off the shavings, and get your paint ready! You only need a little bit–and make sure it’s watered down a bit! I used about 70% paint and 30% water.

Step four: 

Use the paper towel or your brush to make even strokes of paint on the board. Make sure you follow the grain of the wood in the boards. You may need to use several coats to get the color you’d like! Also, consider using your thumb or the paper towel for some textured lines. I did this for my board to try to draw away the appearance of the cut marks since you could still see them a bit.

Step five:

Let the paint dry, and then reassess if you need more coats. Apply as needed, and when dry, you’ve got your brand new refurbished Instagram backdrop! Yay!

While this isn’t super awesome for larger items, it will still be great for a variety of smaller things! I’m still learning the basics of photography, so my shots are that great yet, but I do think this will come in handy as I’m learning how to photograph things for different shots!

 

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