Tutorial Time!

Want a super easy project to turn something totally drab into absolutely FAB-U-LOUS? Well here goes!

Everyone has a corkboard bulletin hanging around their house, apartment, office, etc. It may not be up on the wall, but look hard, I bet you'll find one in the back of a closet, in a storage room, under a desk - somewhere! If not, the super plain ones are fairly cheap at the Wally World. In the process of moving all of the stuff from an old storage room into the new house, I came across a small corkboard (about 18"x 22" I believe). I have a larger one but something about the size intimidated me from getting this project out of my head and into reality. So anyways, I saw this & just had to stop the other projects i was working on and get this pretty made & hanging on the wall!

What you need:
A corkboard (obviously)
Fabric - I used a medium weight cotton duck, but I'm pretty sure any light/medium weight will work. The amount depends on the size of your corkboard.
Spray adhesive ( I used Elmer's)
Staple gun & staples
Thumbtacks (I used the cheap silver flat thumbtacks that come 200 per pack from Walmart)
Fabric scissors

Lay out your fabric on a flat surface and smooth it out.

Place your corkboard on top of the fabric. Cut the fabric around the corkboard leaving about 2-3 inches of fabric on all sides. (So, if you have an 18"x22" board cut the piece of fabric out about 24"x28")

If you want any decorative applique or embroidery add it now. I just eyeballed where I wanted the monogram, marked my center, and used my embroidery machine to complete the applique. This one was a super cute alphabet from hangtodryapplique.com that is a super quick stitch out. I chose a pretty shade of blue for the fabric and stitched it with a lime green. It's going to look so wonderful hanging on the wall of my newly painted craft room - as soon as we get it painted! If you don't want any extra decoration or personalization, continue to the next step.

Spray the front of the board with adhesive. Carefully place the fabric on top making sure you line up the design of the fabric and the added embellishments so they are where you want them. Now here comes the fun part!

Wrap the fabric around the board, frame and all, and start stapling. You'll want to make sure the fabric is pulled tight (but not crazy tight) around the frame. I like to staple flat on the back of the board that you don't have to have an extra border or ribbon added around the frame. That's a personal preference though.

Flip over the board and see how pretty it already is? This final step is the one that took me the longest but it's really not hard at all. Take the thumbtacks and push them in up as close to the inside edge of the frame as possible so that they'll lay flat. Continue these in a pattern you like around the edge - I put them almost touching right next to each other, but i'm sure it would look just as cute with about half of the tacks I used.

See, that didn't take too long did it? I think mine took about an hour and I wasn't really sure of my plan of attack when I started so it may take you even less time!

Now look at your super cute corkboard! Add the hanging hardware to the back and hang your pretty up on the wall! Everyone will admire your work as they walk by - I promise!

Of course, if you still don't want to make one yourself & would like me to make one for you, - shoot me an email! I'll be happy to set up a customized listing for you in my Etsy shop.

French Bulletin Board Tutorial

After posting a picture of the board I made my very best friend, I was asked to put together a tutorial. Let me start off by saying that I have never written a tutorial before – so please bear with me. I don’t have step by step pictures for this yet, but I hope to make another soon and will update this entry with pictures as soon as possible.

I’ve loved these boards for years! I don’t know why I never thought of making one before. I mean, they don’t require an embroidery machine much less a sewing machine, but it wasn’t until I got my embroidery machine that I buckled down and decided to make one. I did very little research to determine how to make them, so please feel free to adapt these instructions in anyway you think might work better for your project – this is just what works best for me!

Materials:

• 1 canvas (I used a 16x20 that came in a bulk package of 5 from Michael’s)
• 1 piece of desired fabric at least 2 inches bigger in both directions of your canvas – so if you use a 16x20, you need at least an 18x22 piece of fabric (I usually use a fat quarter J)
• Fabric & embroidery thread for the appliqué/monogram if desired
• 1 piece of light-medium weight quilting batting the same size as your fabric
• Spray adhesive
• Staple gun with staples
• ¼ inch or narrower ribbon in a color that coordinates with your fabric
• Buttons or brads for where the ribbon meets
• Sewing needle & thread if buttons are used
• Ribbon or cording the depth of the canvas to “frame” the canvas (optional)
• Hot glue gun & glue to attach the ribbon “frame”

Step One:

If your fabric isn’t already cut to the size needed, I usually just lay the canvas down on top of the fabric and cut the fabric out with at least an inch extra on each side of the canvas. Once I have my fabric cut, I go ahead and do my appliqué or monogram on my embroidery machine at this point.

Step Two

I use a little spray adhesive to put the batting onto the board. Smooth it out so there aren’t any lumps and bumps. Add a little more spray adhesive and the put the fabric on top. You may not need the adhesive, but it helps me keep the monogram in the center where I want it. If I didn’t have a specific center or patterned design, I wouldn’t worry about it J

Use your staple gun around the outer edges to attach the fabric & batting to the board. Just be careful and don’t shoot yourself in the finger with a staple! OUCH!

Step Three

Once the fabric is attached, it’s time to place your ribbon. Personally, I like to make the ribbon blend in with the fabric. In this case, the fabric had a nice pattern to it that I could follow with my ribbon to make sure it was nice and straight.

You can place the ribbons however you’d like, just remember that if the spaces in between are too small, you won’t be able to fit larger items on the board, but if they are too big, you might lose some of the smaller items. I usually cut strips of ribbon long enough to stretch the entire diagonal length of the board and then place them on the board to see how I like it before I secure anything. Once I have it placed, I sew a button covering where the ribbons meet. I also staple the ribbon on the sides or around the back to make sure they are good and secure.

Step 4

So your board is looking pretty good now right? You could leave it alone here, but I like to give it a little more polished look and add ribbon or cording around the edges. I just use hot glue to attach it but there may be something better out there to use. Feel free to share any tips you have!

Completely optional, slightly anal step: I decided I didn’t like the back of my board (because you know the wall is going to complain if it has to look at an ugly back) so I also hot glued little buttons to cover the knots where I’d sewn the buttons on the front. If you choose to do this, watch out for the hot glue that comes thru the little holes on the buttons J

If you'd rather purchase one customized just for you, visit my Etsy shop and I'll make one for you!

If you use this tutorial, I'd love to see pics of your finished projects! Thanks so much!