The lowly bulletin or white board is so yesterday. You deserve a much more stylish way to display your notes and favorite photos and all the other stuff that’s too cool to throw away. Find a frame you love, ours was a mirror in its previous life. In fact, we had two, which allowed us to leave one intact, turn the other into a memo board, then hang them side-by-side. Look at me, look at my stuff, look at me, look at my stuff. This almost counts as a no-sew project, but we decided to piece together our fabric covering, and so pulled out the machine. You could, of course, use a single piece of fabric … but where’s the fun in that?!
The lowly bulletin or white board is so yesterday. You deserve a much more stylish way to display your notes and favorite photos and all the other stuff that’s too cool to throw away. Find a frame you love, ours was a mirror in its previous life. In fact, we had two, which allowed us to leave one intact, turn the other into a memo board, then hang them side-by-side. Look at me, look at my stuff, look at me, look at my stuff. This almost counts as a no-sew project, but we decided to piece together our fabric covering, and so pulled out the machine. You could, of course, use a single piece of fabric … but where’s the fun in that?!
Funky frames are hiding everywhere. There’s probably a few in your own house. Maybe a poster or print that no longer works with your decor? Also try thrift stores and garage sales. You just need to be able to look past the ghastly velvet painting of the big-eyed clown, and see the wonderful frame that surrounds it.
Sewing Tools You Need
- Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome 3128)
NOTE: You only need a machine if you decide to piece together fabric scraps rather than use a single piece of fabric.
Fabric and Other Supplies
- Large frame with glass or mirror removed
- Thick cork board or cardboard to fit frame
- Quilt batting to fit frame
- Fabric scraps to piece together to fit frame
- 2-3 yards of ¼”- ½” ribbon in a color to contrast with fabric scraps
- 8-12 upholstery tacks
- Box cutter to trim cork board/cardboard
- Scissors or rotary cutter and mat for fabric
- Fabric pencil
- All purpose thread
- Straight pins
- Hot glue gun
- Long ruler or tape measurer
Assembly
- Measure your frame from the back, and cut the cork board/cardboard to fit.
- Cut a piece of quilt batting the same size as the cork board/cardboard.
- Your fabric overlay will need to be approximately 2″ bigger on all sides than your cork board/cardboard. Determine how many fabric scraps you want to piece together to create the overlay. We used just three pieces, one large piece for the center and two small matching border strips. Be generous with your planning so you have up to 3″ of extra fabric on all sides and can trim exactly to size.
- Stitch all your fabric pieces, right sides together, using a ½” seam allowance. Press all seams flat.
NOTE: You can, of course, use just a single piece of fabric. Piecing fabric scraps together just adds a little zing … and we can all use a little zing, can’t we? If you’re new to piecing, read our tutorial: Quilting Basics Part 1: Tools, Cutting & Piecing .
- Lay your fabric overlay piece on a flat cutting surface right side down. Lay cork board/cardboard on top of fabric and center.
- Trim fabric as needed so you have a 2″ border extending beyond the cork board/cardboard on all four sides.
- Remove cork board/cardboard. Place batting piece down in the same position
- Place cork board/cardboard down on top of the batting, matching edges.
- Using your hot glue gun, run a line of glue around all four edges, staying close to the edge of the cork board/cardboard.
- Fold fabric to the back and press to adhere to the glue line. Fold one side, then its opposite side, then the bottom, and finally the top.
- Lift up each corner and dab a dot of glue with the glue gun, then press the corner back down firmly. You want your fabric to be wrapped tight around the edges and everything glued down as flat as possible. This will allow your board to go back into its frame as easily as possible without any bowing.
- Flip your board over so the front is right side up.
- Cut the ribbon into lengths to fit your board. I cut mine about 18″. Each ribbon piece needs to extend beyond the board by several inches, so be generous with your cuts. Arrange your ribbons in a pleasing pattern, then make a tiny mark with your fabric pencil at both ends of each ribbon piece. You can use more or fewer ribbons, depending on what looks good to you.
- Remove all the ribbons; we’re going to replace them one by one, wrapping from the back to the front.
- Use the glue gun to make a small dot of glue on the back of board just behind the ribbon reference mark you made. Tack one end of a ribbon piece, then wrap the ribbon around to the front, across the middle to its opposite reference mark, and around to the back again. Pull the ribbon piece taut, and tack to the back with another dot of glue from the glue gun. Trim any excess ribbon length.
- When all the ribbon pieces are wrapped in this manner, flip the board over and insert an upholstery tack at each ribbon intersection.
- Place the board back into its frame.
- Fill up with memories
Hints and Tips
You see in the ingredients photo above a roll of cork board. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t use the roll. It was kind of thin and difficult to keep flat. A thicker cork board would be better; you could even take apart an old bulletin board. Thick cardboard works quite nicely as well and is cheaper.
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