Vintage Craft - Fringy Fabulous Screen

One of my favorite vintage home decorating magazines is 1001 Decorating Ideas. Particularly the issues from the mid to late 60's. It was at that time that the magazine was published by Conso, the trimming company. Consequently the design schemes and projects were outrageously adorned with the publisher's product. There are issues and issues full of window treatments made of nothing but trimming, clothing with oversized upholstery trim piled on, walls, curtains and furniture all trimmed in braid - in the same room, and projects like this one.

It's a screen that's been covered in striped fabric and completely trimmed with ball fringe, pompon trim and knotted fringe. The result is an incredible statement piece that can add a dramatic accent to a corner. It goes together in three simple steps with these materials:


4 11" wide, 1" thick pine shelves
Striped fabric (if stripes run vertically or horizontally, cut on bias) cut to wrap around shelves
6 hinges
Stapler
Gimp braid for back
Various fringes - ball, knot, boullion
Aleen's Fast Grab Tacky Glue

Wrap the shelves in the fabric and staple it to the back of the shelves.

Trim the fabric close to the staples, and then glue the gimp over the edge to mask it. Put the hinges on the backs of the boards, but don't attach the boards together yet.

Trim the boards with the trimmings, pinning them on to match the stripes on the fabric. Aleen's Fast Grab Tacky Glue dries quickly, so no need to wait for them to dry. When you've glued down the trimmings, it's time to attach the panels together. Screw in the other half of the hinges while the shelves are laying face down, even on the bottom edges.


We love Conso here at Brini Maxwell HQ. They provided us with some of their great product for my show on the style network. We made another project from 1001 Decorating Ideas on the show - it was trim covered styrofoam fruit.

Click here to learn how to make them. Expect to see more of the over the top projects from 1001 Decorating Ideas here on the blog. They're just too outrageous to let slip quietly into history!