Displaying the Kids' Artwork: Bulletin Boards

The kids and I love doing simple little art projects during our days at home,

but I'm tired of these little art projects lying in piles all over the kitchen counters.

Sooooooo, 

I decided to get creative and come up with a cute way to display all of their "creations."

I started with some cheap-o bulletin boards from Michael's ($5 each).

After taping off the inner cork part, I painted the wood part white.

After several failed attempts at spray painting, I learned the hard way that you really do need to sand the wood prior to painting it so that the paint will actually stick to the wood. 

Grrrrrrr...

I ended up using a good ol' brush and paint eventually after sanding all the chipping spray paint off.

Using about a yard of burlap from JoAnn's (with lots of leftovers) I covered the cork.

Here's how I did it...

Iron your burlap first to get rid of all the ridges and wrinkles so that it will lay flat.

 

Starting from one of the edges that you know is straight, use a T-square to make one other edge straight.

Mark it and then cut.

Lay your two straight edges inside the frame of your bulletin board and 

mark the other edges of the burlap to fit just inside the frame.

Cut the burlap to size.

To attach the fabric to the cork, you will need spray adhesive and tacks.

Starting at one end, spray some adhesive directly onto the cork and press the burlap down. 

Attach thumb tacks to hold in in place.

Work your way down the entire board, spraying, smoothing and tacking as you go.

Let it dry according to the spray adhesive's recommendations.

I let mine dry overnight. 

 

To cover the frayed edges and the slight gap between the burlap and frame, 

attach twine or decorative ribbon with a glue gun.

Start in one corner and work your way around the frame.

To make each board a little more personalized, I decided to add each of my kid's first initial to their bulletin board.

To do this, I printed out the letters (stencil font from dafont.com)

and cut them out with an exact-o-knife.

It probably would have been easier to use my cricut; 

I guess I wasn't really thinking at the time :) 

Using brown acrylic craft paint and a sponge brush, I dabbed the paint on.

Be sure to DAB, not brush or the paint will seep under your stencil.

Then I hot-glued some ribbon to the back and hung the new bulletin board in the play room.

Cheap, simple, and cute. 

Now that's the kind of project I love!!

 Linking up to these parties:

Funky Junk Interiors SNS#69: Bulletin Boards

Fingerprints on the Fridge: FYF

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: Flaunt it Friday 

Be Different, Act Normal: Show & Tell Saturday