Round Two

A favorite photo of your children. Your first published card. A thoughtful note from a friend. A business card that could land you a big promotion. All treasured items not to get lost and should be visible every day! Re-purposed and inexpensive items that you might already have on hand plus some beautiful May Arts Ribbon are all you need to create custom, colorful bulletin board from scratch! This project is for my round two submission for the May Arts Design Team! I really would love to make this team for a second term!

 

First, gather your supplies. I picked up a frame without a backing or glass from my local salvage store for only $.75! (I spray painted it with my color of choice (a pretty blue to match this frame here!) and allowed time for it to thoroughly dry.) To cover the interior of my frame size of 14 x 12 inches, I needed almost a full roll of May Arts ribbon. My choice was woven burlap in natural (I couldn't pass up using this particular ribbon, even though May Arts currently doesn't have it in stock, it matched my decor perfectly! Some other fantastic options include their large wired burlap ribbon here, their 1/2" woven burlap here,  their 1.5" natural burlap striped edge wire here or any of the 5/8" twill here-offered in so many color options!!) The ribbon needs will vary depending on the size of the frame. A piece of foam core, some packing tape and spray paint are the only other supplies needed.

 

Start by cutting your foam core to fit the interior of your frame and cut ribbon that extends 1-2 inches beyond the length and width of the foam core. Cut enough ribbon that when placed side by side, it covers the whole length and width of two sides of your foam core. Keep the ribbon in place by shipping tape on the back side of the foam core.

Weave the ribbon loosely, until the majority of your foam core is covered. Tighten one corner of the weaving, and spray adhesive onto the foam core and press the woven ribbon in place. Continue with one side, the middle and finish at the opposite corner of where you started, being sure to pull tight the weaving as you go! (My mom helped me with this portion, as four hands are better than two!)

Complete the board by securing the loose ribbon with shipping tape on the back side and tuck securely into your new trendy looking frame!  I covered the backside with a roll of brown kraft paper, but you can skip this step if you needed and then also attached a hanging mechanism.

I also created a few, fun custom push pins to my board. This rolled ribbon flower push pin was created by coloring white 1/2" solid/wrinkled ribbon (EA01) with marker, folding the ribbon onto itself lengthwise, snipping the top portion and rolling onto an adhesive backed punched piece of paper, which was then adhered to a trimmed stick pin.

This next cute little flag pin was created by snipping a piece of orange chevron twill (382-34-28) into a banner shape and gluing it onto a stick pin!

Well,  I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial featuring May Arts Ribbon and perhaps even make a bulletin board for your office or craft room! Can't beat trendy, custom, function and thrify decorating! I'd really like to hear your thoughts on my tutorial, so if you have time, please leave a comment!