Bulletin Board How To's Part 1 Small Boards

My daughter told me, "Mom, you need to write a post on how to put up a bulletin board!" She said, "There really isn't anything online on how to make the letters straight and just... how to make it look right!

So, that is what this post is about! Since this post is all about bulletin boards, I will refer to them as BB. The BB you see on this post are not Bible BB, they are what my daughter sketched for her school. But the same theories apply. These are smaller BB, and I put them together at home on the kitchen island. So, this post is for BB you can do at home, then take and put up somewhere else. It doesn't matter what type of BB you are doing; you just want it to be balanced.

The first thing to do is purchase supplies, then cut the paper to the correct size. You can see from the above photo, that I measure the width, then I brought it over, lining it up with the bottom edge to make it straight. Once that is even, I make a sharp fold line which I will cut.

For these boards, the paper was also too tall, so I measured, folded and cut. Careful to watch any patterns like the clouds. The paper had to be cut for the clouds to go sideways.

For this board, I laid out the parts I wanted to use, then I could measure how much basic room I had for the letters. I made the title a little larger than the other info on the board. That is what I wanted to catch the eye first. Once I cut the letters on my Cricut, I glued the shadows (bottom layer of the letters) to the top layer of letters. I only use Aleene's Tacky Glue. LOVE it! I laid out the letters, then started to measure. Starting at the center, as you can see from the ruler above, I counted the letters, and put them from the center out to the edges. I cut a piece of paper to start at the top and go to the top of the letters, that way the letters are very straight across the page. I glued down the letters in the middle, and worked my way out, moving the cut sheet of paper as I glued the letters.

Then, I cut another piece of paper to separate the next row of letters. Using that, I started in the middle and worked my way out to the edges.

I already had the goalpost, and added the school words and added ribbon for the ribbon that is on the top of the goal post. I measured so these would be straight. I put the rulers where I wanted the post to be, added glue and laid it down along the rulers.

I did the date in a different color to highlight it.

Everything was glued onto the background paper, so you would just staple the paper to the board, add the border, then the grass along the bottom. I cut the grass 3" and cut thin lines at the top, probably about an inch long. I used my hand to scrunch the blades of grass for texture.

For the small letters, I ran them through my Xyron sticker maker instead of using the glue. I did this for WEST and the letters/numbers on the emblems under the flags. I found the flags at Dollar Tree. You can see some of the letters are very straight, and Kick-Off is not. It is a more fun way of putting the letters on the board. For a serious board, I suggest making the letters straight.

Last, and probably should be first is the base! The church I went to in the north used this for their BB for over 30 years and is still holding up super great! I love it. When I moved south and started teaching again, I asked for the same boards to be added to my class walls. The Deacon looked at me funny but put them up before the week was over!!

I love it because it is 4x8 and I don't have to trim and waste BB paper. I can put border down the center and use it for 2 boards if I want, and they hold up great! The board can also be cut in half, or whatever for a smaller size. So, this is the info for my very affordable boards @ about $10.00!! Awesome? Yes, much cheaper than the corkboards and last so much longer! I also had one of these boards placed up and down, instead of the normal sideways, and loved that also! These boards are covered with a black substance, and they are NOT particle board, but a fiberboard. Here is the info:

Click here to see what the boards are, Structural Fiberboard Sheathing in 4x8 sheets.

This is at Menards.

Here is Home Depot.

I could not find them online at Lowes.