Simple Jigsaw Frame

My daughter wanted a cork board for christmas so we got one. It didn't take long for me to realize that the cheap little tan plastic frame wasn't going to work for me. So I have to make a frame for a 12 year old.

I happened to have a bunch of these 1x4" pine boards that are beveled on the sides and they were long enough. I drew a 45° on the end of a board and wanted to put a little more style into it. I played around with a pencil for a bit and came up with a simple design that resembles puzzle pieces. Lay 2 pieces together on a 90° to be sure that your design will work on both sides of your corner. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the first piece, but I drilled a 1 1/2" hole centered about 1 1/2" in from the 45° and scroll sawed the extra piece out to make a slot and sanded it smooth. I then laid it on top of the mating piece, set to 90° and clamped it down. Trace out the notch and cut the extra off. Stay just outside the lines so you can sand the pieces for a good fit.

Well, securing, anyway. I routed a rabbet around the inside of the frame on the back about 5/8" deep and wide enough to hold the cork board. I then used a keyhole bit and routed 2 slots to hang the board and a pocket hole jig to screw all the corners together

To dress up the frame a bit, I talked my wife into drawing flowers up the sides and I printed out my daughter's name to use as a pattern to route out her name across the top. I burned in the flowers, routed and burned her name. The finish is a coat of stain and a coat of polyurethane. After the finish had dried, I put the cork board in the frame and used finishing nails to hold it