Make a Mood Board for Yourself

Make a mood board from magazine clippings and other things.

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Something about vision boards rubs me the wrong way. I know some people swear by them, saying they made a collage of all the things they wanted and actually ended up getting them. It’s the law of attraction on overdrive, and I don’t completely buy into it.

I get that positive energy and focusing on what you want are good things, but somehow setting out my vision for my life in magazine clippings and glue is just a little too woo-woo for me.

So instead, I make a mood board. Make a mood board from magazine clippings and other things.

What is a Mood Board?

A mood board is something that’s often used by designers, magazine editors and others who are planning a project and want to define its look and feel in a succinct, visual way. Knitting magazine editors, for example, often share mood boards on Pinterest or otherwise with designers so they can easily see the color story and things that are inspiring the editor to better match that feel in their submissions.

Sometimes when I’m working on a book I might save ideas for shapes, color combinations and other things I like to inspire me as I’m coming up with designs.

I talked about doing this digitally with Pinterest, but this is a more literal version. It’s like a collage of things you are drawn to or that are meaningful at this particular moment in your life.

How to Make a Mood Boardsupplies for making a mood board

First, gather some supplies. I started with an old copy of Good Housekeeping, but any magazine you like should have images and words you can use.

I also pulled out some pretty wrapping paper, an old map and a piece of cardstock for the base. I pulled out a big star made out of an old piece of the girl’s artwork, too, but didn’t end up using it.

Grab scissors and a glue stick, too.

Take a couple of minutes to flip through a magazine or two, pulling out pages with words or images you like. It can be a certain color, texture, shape, whatever, if it draws you in, tear it out.

Then cut out the particular shapes and words you want to use. bird map mood board

Start building your mood board. I cut out a piece of the map to use as my base, then added a hummingbird from the wrapping paper. mood board in progress

I started putting on words and images without thinking too much about where they went or why.

The whole process took 15 or 20 minutes. And now I have this collage that represents where I am in my life (wanting a cup of tea, travel and an organized bookshelf, apparently) and what I want to focus on (family, confidence, growth).finished mood board

It may not help me manifest a trip to Europe, but that’s not the point. It’s got me thinking about getting out in nature, bringing in calming colors, putting more passion into everything I do.

And, yes, maybe making a cup of tea.

Do you make vision boards or mood boards? I’d love to see one! Tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #ourdailycraft.


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