I have a sort of love/hate relationship with corkboard bulletin boards. The idea of them greatly appeals to my organizational DNA, but they never really live up to their potential of making my life tidier, nor do they ever look quite as good in use as they do in my imagination.
So when I needed to install some new shelving in my office, I was pleased that I could finally remove the beat-up bulletin board that had previously been taking up so much valuable wall space. My new cubicle cubbyholes are now happily creating order out of the chaos of my assorted knickknacks, and the old bumpy bulletin board got demoted to a dark closet.
Yet every time I opened the closet door, that poor old bulletin board, now denuded of mementos, looked so raggedy and sad. I felt so sorry for it! I decided to re-purpose it and give it a second life as a padded pinboard for my bedroom. To that end, I did some online research and bought about $5 worth of remnant fabric and some flower-heaedd upholstery tacks at Jo-Ann Fabrics and went to work with leftover batting and ribbon from my stash and my staple gun.
The final result was sadly not as spectacularly transformative as countless online DIY tutorials had promised. Oh, I did a neat enough job and the project came together easily enough, but the overall effect of the new board hanging on my wall was just, well – blah. Upon reflection, one problem was that I used only one layer of batting, when perhaps two would have given the project more “oomph,” and I’m thinking that a wider ribbon might have been a better choice.
The tacks went through the cork and backing easily enough, but securing them presented a problem I had not anticipated. A second layer of heavy cardboard as a base might have been helpful in improving their overall stability. Luckily, I have cardboard, extra batting and plenty of leftover ribbon in my cupboard, so I may just try a re-do of the project this weekend. I’m determined to give that sad little bulletin board a new lease on life.
Sympathetic Threads 