DIY Fabric Bulletin Board

When designing Logan's room recently, my three year-old client, I suggested to Mom to extend her little girl's "art" area beyond her pint size table and chair to a full on artistic station.  Upon discussion, we concluded that Logan would get the most use out of bulletin, magnetic and dry erase boards. 

Logan already owned a magnetic board so I painted that orange, her favorite color.  I purchased a dry erase board and for the bulletin board, I purchased the store bought framed board seen on the left  I wanted the board to be personalized for Logan and for the board to coordinate with the colors in her room so I decided to create a fabric bulletin board. 

This particular bulletin board was papered over on the backside.  Thus, I had two options.  One, I could cut a piece of fabric, glue it to the board and then use ribbon along the four edges to give it a finished look.  The problem with this method is that the glue can create bumps and result in an unsmooth look.  It also looks more "homemade" than the alternative.  The alternative option, the one that I chose, is to wrap the fabric around the cork.  This method includes the following steps:
1)  Tear off the paper on the backside.  The backside of the board is then exposed and is contained by metal clips. 
2)  Using pliers, remove the multiple two prong metal clips that are driven into the wood frame.  Once the clips are removed, the bulletin board pops out easily. 
3)  Choose a piece of fabric that at least allows for one inch of fabric to show on the back side of the board when it is wrapped.  I used a fat quarter of fabric (normally a sample size of fabric measuring 18" x 22").  I chose the same fabric that I used for the welting around Logan's comforter and pillows.
4)  Drape the fabric over the front of the board, centering the fabric and wrapping the extra length around the backside of the board so that the fabric shows about one inch all the way around the backside. Make sure that the fabric is taut so that no air bubbles will be visible on the front of the bulletin board.
5)  Using Velcro Iron On Tape, cut a strip long enough for each of the four sides.
6)  Wrap the square like a present with each corner of fabric folded over, again make sure the fabric is taut.  Place a strip of the Velcro Iron On Tape directly onto the backside of the cork.  Pull the fabric taught over the strip and iron the fabric with a hot iron, making sure that you are keeping the hot iron on the fabric and not on the cork material.  The material will adhere to the Velcro Strip and the Velcro Strip will adhere to the cork.  Repeat for the three other strips.
7)  Now, your fabric is secured to the board and the front of the board now displays a beautiful fabric instead of just cork.  Next, insert the fabric covered board back into the frame. 
8)  Secure the board with the metal clips.  Using a small hammer, gently hammer the pronged clips back into the wood frame from the spot that they were dislodged.  Secure all four sides. 
9)  If you want you can repaper the backside using butcher block paper and hot glue or you can just leave it exposed. 
10)  Now, use pretty pushpins and have fun! 

I will display pictures of the art station on the blog dedicated to Logan's Room, so stay tuned!

---