Inspiration Board DIY

I've been seeing cute cloth inspiration boards pop up a lot lately, and I've been hoping to find the time to get one for myself. The walls in my apartment are pretty bare, and it just seems like an awesome way to display photos and memos. I was at Joann Fabrics yesterday with my mom, just browsing, and saw that they were selling them. The selection was pretty dismal, and they were tiny and cost $20 each. Since I was already in Joann's, so I decided to buy the supplies to make my own.

It was a success, so here is the tutorial to make one yourself. It was done at night, so my photos aren't the best.

Supplies:

• A cork bulletin board (mine was 17"x23") 
• Enough pretty fabric to cover the board and wrap around about 2-3 inches on the back (I got a 24"x44" piece)
• Enough quilt batting to cover the board and wrap around (I got 1/2 yard)
• Ribbon of your choice
• Upholstery decorative nails
• Staple gun 

Step 1:

Cut your quilt batting to fit the board you've selected. Make sure there is enough extra so that you can wrap it around the edges and staple it to the back.

Step 2:

If you've ever stretched a canvas, this will be easy. Stretch the batting over one edge and staple. Next, stretch it over the opposite edge and staple. Do the same thing for the adjacent edges.

Add two more about 1-2 inches on either side of your first staple, repeat on the opposite and then adjacent edges. Repeat this until the you reach the corners. This method ensures that you won't get any wrinkles in the final product.

Step 3:

Cut your fabric to fit the board, again with enough extra on all sides to wrap around the edges.
Repeat exactly what you did for the quilt batting, but stop about 3 inches before you reach the corners.

Fold the fabric in from the corner like this. 

Then fold it again from one side so it lays flat and staple.

 Repeat on the other side.

Do this for each corner until your board looks like this. I ran out of staples, so I finished the corners with a glue gun. 

Step 4:

Lay out and cut your ribbon like this.

Repeat in the other direction. 

Now fold each ribbon over the edge and staple. I had to use hot glue here too, which seemed to work fine. 

Repeat on the other side.

The first layer should look like this. 

When you've finished the first layer, do the same for the second. 

Step 5:

Now, take the decorative nails and press them through the board at each ribbon intersection. 

Step 6:

Mount it on your wall and put photos and memos underneath the ribbons! I glued some ribbon loops to the back of mine and hung it from the decorative nails.