By now you should have a draft mood board of items. To polish it up and make it presentable for a blog post or client, you can add embellishments such as titles, text, arrows and decoration. This step can be likened to taking a loose photo and making it into a scrapbook page. It’s all about dressing it up and being creative.

Log into polyvore, click ‘create’, click the ‘my sets’ tab, click ‘drafts.’ Select the draft board you want to embellish and click ‘edit this draft.’

This should bring up the draft board that you saved previously. To add text to your board, click the ‘all items’ tab. Under the ’embellishments’ category, select ‘text.’

This will bring up a text box. Select a font and type in your desired text. Click ‘update’ to see it appear on your board. You can enlarge, shrink and pivot your text box the same way you would an item. Change the font or color of your text by using the drop-down menus in the text bar.

I widen my text box by dragging the right line of the box to get my title all in one line. I shrink my text and use a teal color to go along with my mood board’s color palette. I center the title above the board. Then I save my draft.

Sometimes it’s useful to number items in your mood board. This is helpful when you’ll be discussing each item in depth within a blog post or with a client. You can simply add lone numbers like you did with the title and then position them next to each item OR polyvore gives you the option of using ready made numbers that have a more professional appearance. To access the ready made numbers, click the ‘all items’ link in blue to the right of your board. Select ‘123♥→.’

This will bring up pages of arrows, numbers and other decorative labeling aides. Select the label you want and ‘add to set.’ You can change the color via the drop-down menu in the box. You can also lighten or darken the color using the fade feature. I use the round number stickers in orange and fade them so that they mimic the coral in my mood board.

When numbering, I like to layer the numbers slightly over the items so there’s no question which number goes with which item. I also try to stagger the placement of the numbers so your eye moves around the board in a flowing manner. With my mood board titled and numbered, I give it a once-over and save my draft.

For fun and to show you a little more of what you can do, I play around with my title’s color and give it some flair. {“I don’t really like talking about my flair.” Name that movie.}

To highlight the title, I add double arrowheads to each end of the title. I decide the teal font and coral arrows work best. I save my draft.

If you’re wondering, I use the ‘text’, ‘123♥→’, ‘effects & textures’ and ‘patterns & overlays’ embellishments most frequently. My best advice here is to practice playing around with the embellishments. Try layering text over patterns and using different extras to amp up the wow factor on your boards. It’s just like cropping…you’ll get better with practice. That being said, if I’m making a mood board for personal use, I usually don’t add embellishments. I just want a feel for how certain items will look all together in one space.

Ta-dah! Wait…how’d I get my board onto my blog you ask?

Once you complete a mood board you have two options: 1) save it as a draft to view personally OR 2) publish it to share with others.

If you want to post your mood board to a blog or email it to a client, you will need to publish it. Click ‘publish’ in the upper left hand corner of your  board.

Populate the fields as directed. I don’t spend a whole lot of time or thought on this part since I don’t target my boards toward the polyvore audience. Click ‘publish.’

You are able to quick share via different social media sites but I click ‘done’ here. My boards are usually going into a blog post that I haven’t written yet or to a client via email.

Congrats! You just published a mood board! Feels good, doesn’t it?

A great feature about a completed mood board is that you can hover over any of the items and it will bring up links to the items. Super convenient. There are share buttons for twitter, tumblr, email, pinterest and facebook. I use the email button to email mood boards to clients. The email includes links to all the items in the mood board which is another convenient feature. I also send a separate email to clients from my personal email account giving more details about the board – this is where those numbers come in handy. I specify furniture arrangements, each item’s placement, my thoughts on why I chose each item and other pertinent info. It’s easier for me to discuss one item at a time and I’m sure it’s easier for the client to see the mood board broken down into smaller bits.

To post my mood board to House*Tweaking I click ‘post to blog.’ This brings up a box giving me appearance options. I always choose the last option in the first row which basically means I don’t want a list of all the items included with the mood board…I just want the mood board itself to appear on my blog. I set the image size to 600 pixels wide because that’s how wide my post column is on H*T. I skip the ‘choose your blog’ option and instead opt to copy the HTML code for my board. I paste the HTML code within the blog post I write pertaining to the mood board.

With the board in my blog post, I’m able to refer to each item via its labeled number. Voilà!

I’ll bet you would have never guessed all that went on behind the scenes when you’re reading a mood board post on H*T. No one is ever going to ask how I create anything tech-y again! Ha!

Sorry if this week was a total wash and you have no interest in mood boards. I’m happy if I inspire just one person to create their own. Playing around with mood boards is my idea of fun. I wish a step-by-step tutorial for polyvore had been around years ago when I started using it, so this is my way of paying it forward. Another reason I wanted to share this tutorial now is that NEXT WEEK I will begin offering mood board services for a fee. I know not everyone will be able/want to shell out the moolah for a custom mood board, so I thought sharing my process would give those readers the chance to DIY their own.

Happy embellishing! And I apologize in advance to the husbands, boyfriends, wives?, girlfriends?, children and pets of any polyvore monsters I created this week. SORRY. I would love for readers to link to their polyvore mood boards in the comments section below so I can see what lovely sets you’ve created.

Please feel free to ask any questions about polyvore and mood boards in the comments section below. Refer to Parts I, II and III of this tutorial if you’re just tuning in.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

By now you should be all set up with your polyvore account and have several items of interest clipped/added under the ‘my items’ tab. Let’s get down to the business of placing items on a mood board. Go ahead and log into your polyvore account.

Once you’re logged in, click ‘create.’

To access all the items you’ve clipped and added to your polyvore account, click ‘my items.’

All of your items should be on the right side of the empty mood board. Choose an item to add to your mood board. I’ll be starting with the bedding my sister has already purchased for her bedroom. You can either click on the item and ‘add to set’ OR simply drag the item onto the mood board.

Your item will appear in your mood board. Once the item is there and highlighted, you have three options. The first option is to let polyvore crop the image for you as shown above with the first box in the upper right hand corner of the mood board highlighted in orange. If you are using an item that wasn’t ideal {remember, simple large images with no/little background are best!}, your image may appear distorted – like mine. I appreciate that polyvore is trying to save me a step but this isn’t going to work.

The second option, as shown by the second box in the upper right hand corner of the board highlighted in orange, lets you use the original image as-is without any cropping. This isn’t bad but it could look better with a little cropping action.

By selecting my item and clicking the third ‘custom’ box in the upper right hand corner of the mood board, you will be given the option to crop the image yourself. A box will pop up with your item in it. To the right of the image are any saved cropped images. These are images that you or someone else may have cropped and saved already. If you see one you like, great! Select it and click ‘ok’ to add it to your mood board. If not, then it’s time to get cropping.

If your item isn’t perfectly square in shape, you’ll want to choose the first cropping option indicated by the first gray box to the left of ‘click to draw a path’ above your image. This allows you to cut in around the item for a close crop. The second box – directly next to ‘click to draw a path’ – is a more basic crop that closes in around the image in a square/rectangular fashion. Since my item isn’t square in shape, I choose to cut in around the image.

There is a learning curve when it comes to cropping and you’ll get better with practice. My advice is to crop in as close as possible to your image. If any traces of background are left, you will have a sliver of space around your item. This gives items that cartoon-y or cut-and-paste look that makes mood boards look like preschool projects instead of inspiration.

Once the image is cropped to your liking, click ‘save’ so you can use it again if necessary without going through the entire cropping process. Then click ‘ok’ to add the cropped image to your mood board.

See how my custom cropped image now has a crisp look without a shadowed background, unlike the original image? And it looks waaaaaay better than the version that polyvore automatically cropped. Not every item you add to your mood boards will need such TLC but proper cropping gives a polished look which is great for boards that you’ll be posting to a blog or sharing with clients.

To enlarge or shrink your item, click on it then move one of the corner boxes in or out. To pivot an item, click on it then move the circle, top center.

Continue adding items to your mood board. A few words of advice:

*Keep the overall shape of the board square. Polyvore automatically centers boards into a square shape. You can see what your mood board will look like after polyvore centers it by clicking the small circle with a black dot in it on the left hand side of the board. It helps me to place round or circular items near the center of the board and straighter items along the perimeter.

*Think about where you’d like to place text on your mood board. Leave ample space along the top or bottom of the board if you’ll be giving it a title. Leave pockets of space around images to number, point at or briefly describe them. You can always rearrange your items after you add text, but it’s something to keep in mind when playing around with the layout.

*Use the shortcut buttons at the top of the board when applicable. ‘Remove’ items that don’t work. ‘Flop’ or ‘flip’ items to transpose them. ‘Clone’ items that you need more than one of…table lamps, nightstands, chairs, etc. Move items ‘forwards’ or ‘backwards’ for a layered effect. Layering is especially useful when trying to visualize one item on top of another {i.e., a lamp on a table or a pillow on a couch}. Sometimes you will have to click the ‘forwards’ and ‘backwards’ buttons several times before your image moves. I don’t know why.

*Arrange items in a visually pleasing manner. Pay attention to the different colors, textures and materials incorporated on your board. Don’t place all the white items at the top and all the colored items at the bottom. Place items of the same material on opposite sides of your board. This keeps your board from becoming too heavy in one area. It’s much like decorating a room but on a smaller level.

*Save a draft of your mood board. Odds are you aren’t going to complete a mood board in one sitting. You may still need to find a few items for your board. You might become frustrated with your board or the items you’ve already chosen. Or, if you’re anything like me, you will probably get interrupted {by kids, housework, mealtime, errands, etc.} and simply need to step away. Save, save, SAVE so all your hard work doesn’t go to waste.

Find your saved drafts under the ‘my sets’ tab.

Tonight your homework is to add items to your mood board. Practice cropping, using the shortcut buttons and moving your items around on the board. Don’t forget to save your draft so you’ll be able to edit it tomorrow when we add embellishments and publish {!} final drafts.

Happy cropping, flipping and flopping!

Refer to Parts I and II of this tutorial series if you’re just tuning in.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking