Burlap Bulletin Board

Hi there! I'm Neetu from Cinnamon's Synonyms and I'm thrilled to be blogging here on Who's Who today!

I have a quick little bulletin board tip to share with you ...I actually came up with this idea by pure accident!

Here's the real deal: I am not very talented when it comes to making bulletin boards look pretty. No, really... I'm not. I usually find myself fiddling with my boards ... constantly... because I NEVER like the way things look.  After several failed attempts I usually give up and accept my attempt for what it is (because honestly, who has time to fuss with this stuff when there are a gazillion things to do in the day).

This year, I haven't fiddled with my board once!! Annnd, get this... I continue to receive compliment after compliment on the way my board looks! Yay! Success!!!

In the fall, when school started, I knew I wanted to have a neutral background for my boards. Something that would make my students' work just pop!  In our district there's a huge push for Reggio inspired kindergarten classrooms and although I don't teach kindergarten I thought it'd be neat to incorporate some natural elements into my decor just as the Reggio philosophy encourages.

My initial plan was to just cover the board in this burlap material I had laying around in my basement. I figured it'd be perfect because if the material is resilient enough for the outdoors, then it'd be an ideal way to create a fade-proof bulletin board for my classroom.

I had one problem though...

It barely stretched out far enough to reach the top and bottom of my boards.  Take a look:

I had two rolls of burlap, so I used one to cover the center part of the board.

Then, I cut the other roll in half (lengthwise) and used it to cover the empty parts at the top and bottom. I knew it would look sloppy if I just stapled it flat -  it would look like three ugly rows of burlap. This is when the idea to do this poofy thing came about:

Burlap is extremely easy to work with... the little poofs just happen naturally. Yep, burlap is your reliable friend and will do all the pretty poofing for you. NO SKILL REQUIRED... but people will think you're super talented with mega decorating abilities.  I love Burlap! It took the stress right out of beautifying my board.

It's February now, and I haven't had a single urge to change it out! 6 months is the longest relationship I've had with a bulletin board. I think this is true love!

Neetu teaches in a school with a high population of English Language Learners. With the awareness that students learn best through visuals (whether they speak English as a second language or not), she strives to create engaging language based resources filled with illustrations that kids just dig! There is a strong language component in everything she creates (including her math and science activities). This is inspired by her need to help her students build the vocabulary required to succeed in every subject, not just language arts.  Visit her store by clicking HERE.