DIY Farmhouse Decor with Corkboard Cow

This DIY Farmhouse Decor with Corkboard Cow is so adorable, I just have to share with you how I made it! I used a Dollar General metal cow as a template to make the corkboard cow, and I also made a faux shiplap backing on a Dollar General wood sign! 

Making this project is very easy, and even more affordable, you won’t be able to stop yourself from making it for yourself! 

Watch the replay

If you’ve ever wanted to see me laugh until I cry, then you absolutely want to watch the Facebook Live video replay of me making this adorable DIY Farmhouse Decor with Corkboard Cow! 

I always have fun when I’m crafting, but making this project was just so much fun, and we got a surprise visit from my daughter-in-law, Michelle! 

WATCH THE REPLAY

For this project, I will be using these items but you can substitute where you want.

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• Dollar Tree Wood Hanging Decor
• Dollar Tree Mope Head
• Metal Cow (Dollar General)
• Dollar Tree Adhesive Cork Board sheet
• White jute twine
• Folkart White Chalk Paint
• Waverly Ink Chalk Paint
• Apple Barrel Pewter Grey Acrylic Paint
• Wood Beads
• Surebonder glue gun and glue sticks

How to make DIY Farmhouse Decor with Corkboard Cow

Start making this adorable farmhouse decor by painting the Dollar Tree hanging decor with black paint. I used Waverly Ink Chalk Paint, but you can use whichever black paint you prefer. 

After I painted the wood black, I went back over it with a wet wipe to remove excess paint and create a stained finish. Then, I used my heat gun to dry the wood and painted it over with Folkart White Chalk Paint.

Let the white paint dry completely, then lightly go over the wood with a sanding sponge. This is going to create an effortless distressed look for your farmhouse decor. Sand until you’re happy with the finish. 

For this next step, you need black paint, an artist’s brush, and something with a straight edge (I used a paint stick). To create the faux shiplap on the Dollar Tree hanging decor, use the straight edge to paint straight lines evenly spaced horizontally across the wood. 

Keep a light hand and try not to create solid black lines. If you apply too much paint, you can always go back over the lines with a bit of white paint. After I dried the black lines, I went back over them with a sanding sponge to distress them and make them look more faded. 

DIY Corkboard Cow

You can set your Dollar Tree hanging wood decor to the side for now because next, we are going to work on the corkboard cow. I used a metal cow from Dollar General and a piece of adhesive corkboard from Dollar Tree. (dollar tree adhesive cork sheet) 

I put the adhesive corkboard facedown then laid the cow on top of it and traced the cow with a black marker. Then, I used a pair of scissors to cut the cow shape out of the adhesive corkboard. 

Before I applied the corkboard to the hanging decor, I added the mop strings. First, you have to remove the mop strings from the plastic piece that secures them together. I used a pair of aviation snips to break the plastic piece and free the mop strings.

Then, I flipped the wood sign painted side down and hot glued one end of each mop string to the bottom of the sign. I wanted to add beads to the mop strings, but I stained them grey before I threaded them onto the mop strings. 

I put my beads into a small mixing bowl, spray them with water, poured a bit of the Apple Barrel Pewter Grey Acrylic Paint into the bowl, and swirled the beads around until they were all coated with paint. 

While the beads were still in the bowl, I used my heat gun to slightly dry the paint on the beads, then I used a dry paper towel to remove the excess paint. This leaves your beads with a perfectly stained finish! 

The finishing touches

Before I put the beads on my mop strings, I threaded an unattached mop string through each of them to make sure there wasn’t any wet paint on the inside of the beads. I didn’t want the paint to streak on the mop strings on my sign. 

Then, I threaded the beads onto the mop string strands on my Dollar Tree wood sign to create a sort of macrame esque look. Put a dab of hot glue on the mop strings where you want the beads to stay, then push the bead onto the dab of hot glue. 

Next,  remove the adhesive backing from your corkboard bow and press it onto the center of your faux shiplap wood sign. I really wanted my corkboard cow to have a little bell on its neck, but unfortunately, I didn’t have one. 

Instead, I tied a piece of white jute twine into a little bow and hot glued it onto my cow’s neck. Lastly, I made a hanger from a piece of brown jute twine. I pushed the ends of the twine through the holes in the top of the sign and tied the ends in a knot to keep them from slipping out. 

I hope you enjoyed this DIY Farmhouse Decor with Corkboard Cow as much as I did and decide to make one for yourself! If you do, I would love to see how yours turns out!

You should totally join my FREE Facebook group called On A Budget Crafts! It is a judgment-free community for DIY crafters to show off their projects and ideas. 

If you loved this DIY you might also like this one too! 

Thanks for stopping by! XOXO Amber

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