#2getherwearebetter ALL THINGS BULLETIN BOARDS!

Why hellooooooooo there! I am SO stinkin' excited to be doing this link up with Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd ad Lucky Little Learners. They are geniuses and I can't wait to see what everyone does with their bulletin boards!

Picking a Background

I LOVE solid backgrounds on bulletin boards! I feel like they are clean, inviting and you can accessorize with LOTS of different borders. I also LOVE fabric. Now I know what you're thinking. "Soney, I'm a teacher. I don't make enough money to go buy yards and yards and yards of fabric!" 

I understand completely! I didn't start using fabric until my 3rd or 4th year of teaching because it is quite an investment and a big part of why I choose to use SOLID colors. I can switch up borders from year to year. There is NO WAY I am changing out my fabric from year to year and if I hang paper, I would have to switch it out every year because it fades. The money is worth the time and effort to me.

 So I haven't been able to get in my room just yet but will walk you through what I do.

         Step 1: Measure the HEIGHT of your walls.
         Step 2: Go to Hobby Lobby WITH your 40% off coupon!
         Step 3: Find ONE color of fabric you like.
         Step 4: Get way more than you THINK you need (you'll need it) but have the lady cut it to the   same height of your walls. So If I was doing a red wall, I would tell her that I wanted 12 yrds but cut into 3 yrd sections. I'll explain later about why and how this is helpful.
         Step 5: Check out WITH YOUR COUPON!
         Step 6: Repeat daily until you have every color you want.

Now, I know that seems like a lot of trips to Hob Lob and it is! HOWEVER, that is how you're going to cut down on the expense of buying fabric.

I get asked a lot if I iron or steam my fabric. The answer is no. I attach it so tightly to my walls that there are not any wrinkles in it.

Hanging your Background

Ok so remember how I told you to have the lady at HobLob cut your fabric to the exact length that equals how tall your walls are? Here's why. You obviously are going to be standing on a ladder, table, desk, chair, or something to get up to the top of your wall right? Well you don't want to worry about cutting anything so if you can staple your fabric to the top of that wall, let it hang down, then it's super easy to just staple and apply border! No cutting needed! 

Now, when I do this, I staple the entire top and then as I go down each side, I pull the fabric tight so that it doesn't have wrinkles. The best way to do this is staple 2-3 times on the left, and then 2-3 times on the right until you're at the bottom. In the even there is a little extra, just fold it under and staple. The border will hide it. 

Borders!

Now I love borders! They are (normally) pretty cheap and a super easy way to refresh your room without the mega cost of doing something like fabric! I really like am obsessed with CHEVRON! If my husband let me, I'd decorate the whole flippin' house in anything and everything chevron. L.O.V.E. it! Anyways, last year, I decided to just order online some super cute chevron borders! I got WAY too much and have TONS in my back cabinet. I'm pretty sure I bought all of what Really Good Stuff had! 

Last year, our school theme was 'License to Learn' so everything had to deal with driving. So this was my bulletin board outside of my classroom.

This year, we are a western theme. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet but I'm thinking maybe a black background with burlap ribbon as the border. Maybe I'll get some bunting at Michael's and stencil on the words "Howdy Partner!" and hang it with clothes pins from some twine. I'm not sure what to do with my kids' names though...

So, if you have any thoughts, let me know! Do you use fabric? Do you love chevron as much as I do?! I'd love to hear your tips and tricks as well! Stay tuned for my entire room reveal on September 2nd!!!