Put a Pin In It

Now that the kids are back to school, my house has become overrun with papers - homework, notices, calendars, order forms, graded tests, etc., and although I hate having it laying around the kitchen counter and dining room table, most of it contains important information that my family will need to reference on an ongoing basis:

Since we're in the middle of our kids' room refresh, which will include a new studyworkspace for my second grader, I wanted to find an organized and visually appealing way to post these kind of papers in that space, along with other fun photos and goodies they want to display. I took stock of what I already had laying around to work with (a large black IKEA Ribba frame that I had broken the glass for - oops, some creamy white glossy spray paint left over from my chair rehab project and some organic cotton from a sewing project I  never started) and decided to make a DIY bulletin board.

I stopped over at our nearest arts & crafts store, Pearl, and picked up a piece of foam core board (my husband suggested the black board since the white has a thicker coating and might be harder to push pins through.) They had some large, slightly damaged pieces laying to the side, but since I was going to cut it down, that worked fine for this project. After paying them $2 to cut it to size and $3 for the foam itself, I saved about $12 off what it would have cost for a brand new board.

Once we were back home we primed the black frame in the driveway. I let my daughter complete this step...

...and while that dried, I started on the board by laying it over the fabric and cutting the fabric down, leaving a couple of inches on each side so I could wrap it around and staple it. I made sure to pull it tight so there wouldn't be any folds or wrinkles once I flipped it over:

Once the board was wrapped and the primer dried, I gave the frame two coats of spray and let it dry overnight. Then I popped in the board and started pinning!

I can't wait to see how this looks up on their wall when the room is done and ready to accessorize!