Upcycled BULLETIN BOARD to Organize Your Desk!

Everyone that has ever worked at a desk knows how quickly they can get messy. With piles of paper everywhere, it could be hard to keep track of where you put some important notes. A simple way to solve this struggle is to use a bulletin board to which you attach all important documents and notes that you often need.

In this instructable, me and my brother will show you how to make a simple bulletin board from upcycled materials the way our father used to make them when we were kids. Back then we used them to hang our drawings we made, now we use it to hang our work notes and to do lists, oh how times change! ;)

For this instructable you will need the following materials and tools:

• Large picture frame
• Softboard (same size as the picture frame)
• Piece of sturdy fabric (about 20 cm wider and longer than the picture frame)
• Thumbtacks
• Stanley knife
• Cleaning cloth

Optional depending on method:

• Measuring tape
• Sewing pins
• Staple or nail gun
• Nails
• Hammer
• Superglue

A couple of days ago I went to a flea market where I managed to score this decently sized picture frame for cheap. Flea markets and second-hand stores are the perfect places to find these old antique picture frames. If this does not fit the style of your interior, you can also use more modern picture frames. Just make sure they are strong enough!

The be able to easily insert the thumbtacks, we need a fairly soft material. We decided to go for soft board which is built from small fibers compressed under low pressure, but cork should work fine too. Another pro of soft board is that it can be easily cut using a stanley knife, so no need for big saws or other big tools!

As real dutchies we brought the board home by bike of course.

We got this dark blue velvet piece of fabric from the charity shop store for only 2 euros! I absolutely love hunting for materials I can use for projects in charity shops and other second-hand places. Your project ends up being a lot cheaper and it's also a lot more sustainable. Why buy something new when you can find something better 2nd hand?

The picture frame we bought at the flea market clearly was not used in a long time. The previous owner said it had been catching dust for a long time in their attic, and yes, I agree, it was really dusty! ;) There were also some small parts broken off. To remove the dust we used a vacuum and a damp cloth.

The broken parts were luckily kept and could easily be attached with some super glue. Access glue was removed with a cloth and the picture frame was put aside to dry.

Depending on your picture frame you might need to do no repairs at all (lucky you!) or you might even need to sand it down or use some paint to touch up some spots.

There are of course multiple options to measure and cut your soft board to size. We decided to use the back of the picture frame as a guide for our size since this would fit the picture frame perfectly. However, depending on your picture frame it might be easier to grab a measuring tape and measure the inside of the picture frame which will hold the soft board. Or another option would be to measure the glass of the picture frame. Keep in mind that there will be a layer of fabric added to the soft board thus don't cut your soft board exactly to the milimeter.

To cut the soft board you can use a stanley knife. Make sure to cut and not push too much, since this could result in ugly tearing of the soft board. Don't worry too much though about clean sides, it will be covered in fabric!

Now it's time to attach your fabric to the soft board. Again, here are some different options. We explored and used different ones.

Start by laying your fabric flat and lay your soft board on top. It's important to attach your fabric flat and tight. So every once in a while during your progress of attaching, check the back to see if the fabric didn't form any unwanted wrinkles.

You could use either thumbtacks, sewing pins, a staple gun, or even hot-glue to attach your fabric to the soft board. Also depending on how big your piece of fabric is you might want to use your fabric scissors to cut the fabric to size. My preferred method was using sewing pins, they seemed the easiest to manipulate the fabric with. It is also easy to readjust in case the fabric wasn't tight enough, and they go through a decent amount of layers of fabric and still hold it tightly together.

Now you have your soft board covered with the fabric you'll want to insert it into the back of the picture frame. To fasten there are again some different options you could use, depending on your picture frame. We used the fastening method that was already on the pictrue frame originally. Which you could easily make as well by using some small pieces of wood and some screws. Another option would for example be to use some angled nails.

And tadaa! Here you have your bulletin board!

Last but not least, we have to hang your bulletin board on the wall. We used to hook that was already on the picture frame originally and a hook in the wall to hang it safely and securely. Add your notes that were lying all over your desk and enjoy your clean desk, and easily accessible notes and to-do lists! We will keep working on our last task mentioned on there! ;)