How to Decorate a Youth Room with No Money, Part One: DIY Bulletin Board

Since Oak Meadow Baptist Church has opened the doors to our brand new building on October 31st, the youth room has remained sadly plain due to 1) my balance of role of youth minister and full time student and 2) the lack of decorations in our previous 12' by 12' room in the portable building.

We had a small bulletin board in the room in the portable but because it would look silly in our new giant space it is now adorning my office. So I began looking for a giant board for our youth room. Buuuuut if you've ever bought a bulletin board, a regular 2' by 3' bulletin is around $30. And I

was looking for something at least 6'. Then I found this post

http://grshortstop.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-make-large-custom-bulletin-board.html and decided to make a couple boards for our room.

So first, these are the supplies you'll need to make your own:

An 8'x4' foam core insulation board- about $10 at any home improvement store

3 yards of fabric in a fun print

Duct tape and a utility blade or X-Acto knife.

Start by measuring the width of your fabric. If you need to trim the insulation board, the utility blade should make it super simple. I just kind of freehanded it because I didn't want to walk back downstairs for my measuring tape.

Then, spread the fabric out and place the board on top, face down.

Use the duct tape to tightly secure the fabric around the board, starting with the corners.

This is easiest with two people to secure the fabric really tightly, but if you're working alone like I was, you can pull sections at a time and use small pieces of tape before covering the entire outline with tape.

When taping corners, it's a lot like wrapping a gift. Don't worry about how the tape looks because no one will see the back!

Then it's done! To mount it on the wall, I used adhesive poster hangers because the board is very light and I didn't have a drill on hand to use anyway. If you do this, just be sure and space several evenly along the back and press firmly onto the wall.

Add photos, fliers, or banners and tada! Done!

This project not only makes a great bulletin board but could be used as a cool headboard or a decorative art piece. Happy crafting!