Message Board DIY Tutorial

We have a built-in desk area in our condo and I've been using it as my workspace since I work from home most of the day.  At first I wasn't sure about it but the desk has actually turned out to be an awesome aspect of the place.  I have found, though, that it has become a little crowded with papers and stuff over the last few weeks.  I am constantly jotting down little notes during the day and they've started to pile up.  So I decided it was time to create some type of message board for me to stick all of those notes.  So, I came up with a really easy and super cheap DIY message board. 

I had two standard cork boards on hand, 23"x15".  Mine were about $6 each from Ikea.  

I also had a black and white floral fabric on hand that I wanted to use, since eventually I want to paint the built-in desk area with black and white stripes.  Below my adorable friend Val is helping me lay out the fabric.  I also have cut a sheet of paper that is exactly the size of the cork part of the cork board.  That was placed on top of the fabric.

I then cut around that piece of paper, leaving approximately 2 inches of extra fabric around the perimeter.

 

Next, I took out my ironing board, iron and stitch witchery.  I cut pieces of stitch witchery to create a hem around the edge of the fabric.  To do this, I just used that piece of paper and cut two strips for the long ends and two strips for the short ends.  I placed the stitch witchery on the fabric and began ironing.

I carefully measured the fabric each time I was creating an edge to ensure it was the prefect size to cover the cork.

When all of the edges were nicely hemmed, I laid the fabric out on the cork board and cut ribbon to fit the board diagonally, as I needed something to hold my notes.

I used simple upholstery tacks the hold the ribbon in place.  I used six strips of ribbon total and placed tacks at each "intersection" of ribbon.

 

Voila!

  

I'm super happy with how they turned out!

-MLL