Bulletin Board Alternative & Tutorial

As mentioned in my previous post, we are very excited with all of the teaching possibilities with our wall space.  After pricing bulletin boards and realizing the escalating cost for the number of boards we desired we decided to look for less expensive alternatives.  Plus, we were frustrated that the standard bulletin board sizes did not allow us to utilize each wall to its fullest potential.

I always use fabric as the base for each bulletin board, so after doing some research on google, it seemed very logical to attempt starching the fabric directly onto the wall.  We obtained permission from our education minister and elders and gathered supplies on hand and purchased our fabric and liquid starch to get started!

Supplies needed:
1.  Measuring Tape
2.  Lightweight Cotton Fabric (measured and cut to size of desired board)
3.  Thumbtacks/Push pins
4.  Level
5.  Paint Roller/Sponge or foam cover
6.  Paint Tray
7.  Stepladder
8.  Sta-Flo Liquid Starch
9.  Drop Cloths
10.  A small foam brush
11. A friend (it is extremely helpful to have an extra set of hands)
12.  Bulletin board border (for finishing touch)

After measuring out desired placement, we tacked the material at the very top with thumbtacks.  To ensure it was nice and level, we measured down from the ceiling and checked placement with a level.

Here is a photo of fabric hanging in my classroom, awaiting starch. 

Here is a photo of Melissa's corner in her classroom. 

Here you can see that we are taking advantage of the whole wall in Melissa's classroom.  

We love how each one can be customized to whatever size you desire! 

Next, place drop cloths under the work area.  Then we poured the liquid starch in the paint tray.  I lifted the tacked fabric out from the wall allowing Melissa to roll the liquid starch on the wall behind the material, coating the wall.

Once the wall is covered, we smoothed out the material working from the center to the edges of the fabric.

We used a small foam brush to brush behind the very top of the fabric that is tacked to the wall.  We found this method much easier than removing the fabric while applying starch to the wall.

Next, roll the liquid starch on top of the material, saturating the fabric, smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles.

We allowed the material some time to dry, then stapled bulletin border around the edges giving it a nice clean polished look.

As you can see in the above picture I was impatient and didn't allow the fabric to fully dry before stapling the border.  On this particular board I also overlapped the fabric rather than having it sewn together like my other boards, but once fully dry this should not be very noticeable....especially once items are placed on it.  We used an X-acto knife to cut around the electrical outlets.

To complete this project we each spent approximately $12 on the liquid starch and $30-$40 on bulletin board border to complete each wall in our classroom.  Between the both of us we have eleven customized sized bulletin boards and together the cost still came in under what one bulletin board would cost!

Check back as we plan to do a full classroom reveal post soon!