Office Makeover - Fabric Covered Pinboard

I'm currently in my second year at the elementary school I work at.  I share an office with the head PE coach, and I have my own desk but not my own computer.  The other day I was sitting at my desk and all the sudden I thought to myself, "Why in the WORLD have I never done anything to beautify this place??"

That's my desk, and it's pretty safe to say that it is rather drab. I have a nice view of the gym, and a picture colored for me by one of my students, but that's pretty much it. Sad, no? I decided that it needed a change and I made a plan of attack, starting with a cute pinboard to hold all of the random notes to myself and other things I always have around. I have seen a million and one tutorials like this around the internet, but I have never seen one that tackled one of those cheap boards where the frame is completely attached to the cork part. That's the kind that I had, so I came up with a solution that I think worked out pretty well: 

Materials

1. A framed cork board - This is one that was given to me by one of my coworkers (she bought it for 50 cents at a garage sale), but I have seen inexpensive boards like this at places like Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Ikea.

2. A piece of fabric large enough to cover the cork part of your board - I used duck cotton because I like how sturdy it looks, but you can use any kind of cotton.

3. Ribbon that coordinates your fabric - Long enough to cover the perimeter of the cork part of your board. I used ribbon that was 7/8" wide, but any size would work.

4. Paint 

5. Spray adhesive

Other tools - a paintbrush, scissors, and an iron.

Step 1 - Paint the frame

I used some white paint and a cheap foam brush to paint the frame. I wanted a distressed look, so instead of priming and painting it nicely, I gave it a quick sloppy coat and let the wood show through a little bit. It's okay if some paint gets on the cork part like it did on mine because it will get covered up.

Step 2 - Prepare your fabric for adhesion

I cut my fabric so that it covered the cork almost entirely. It's okay if it's not perfect!! Then I ironed the fabric and placed it over the board, making sure that my pattern was straight and just how I wanted it. I also put some newspaper over the frame to give it a little bit of protection from the spray adhesive.

Step 4 - Use the spray adhesive to glue the fabric to the board

I did this by lifting up small sections of the fabric from the board.  I was really determined to keep my pattern straight, so once I had it right I didn't want to lift the whole thing off of the board again. I sprayed the exposed cork with a generous coat of adhesive, gave it about a minute to get tacky, and then smoothed the fabric back on to the board. When you're done there may be edges hanging off or cork still exposed. That's okay! IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE PERFECT (yet) :)

Step 4 - Trim the edges

If there are any pieces of fabric that overlap with the frame, cut them off.  It's perfectly fine to leave a sliver or cork exposed, like I did. When you're done you will see a lot of raw fabric edges. Gross! But don't fret, we will be covering them with some pretty ribbon.

Step 5 - Trim your ribbon to size.

I did this by measuring the perimeter of the cork and cutting pieces of ribbon to fit. Then I eyeballed the pieces to trim the ribbon border into those nice triangular corners.

Step 6 - Spray adhesive on the ribbon pieces

I flipped my ribbon pieces over, making sure to remember which piece goes where, and sprayed them with the adhesive.  Then I let them sit for about a minute to get tacky.

Step 7 - Attach the ribbon to the board

It will make a sort of border in between the frame and the fabric part of the board, hiding all of those unsightly raw edges. Smooth the ribbon out nicely. This is the part that demands accuracy, so I was very careful not to leave any cork exposed. 

Step 8 - Place it and admire!

Doesn't that look nice :) Next up, accessories!