Ballard Designs inspired message board

Ballard Designs has so many wonderful pieces in their catalog- I keep looking through the current one for inspiration!

I've been admiring the burlap and nail head message board for awhile now- for our office makeover.

As much as I love Ballard, I figured I could probably make my own for a lot less than the $79 asking price for the large board.

Here's how I made mine- you might find ways to tweak it yourself.

I'm really happy with the results!

This is Ballard's version and what I worked off of:

I started with some basic supplies:

foam core board

cork squares

glue

fabric- (using my new fabric BFF, Osnaburg)

spray adhesive

glue

staple gun

nail head trim

nails

I went with a square shape just to keep things workable with the cork.  It was easier to cut the foam core and less messy.

I had to trim and piece the foam core a bit so the cork was to a solid backing:

I just used painter's tape since it was what I had next to my worktable.  Cover the seams completely so you don't have it flopping around.

Gluing the squares onto the foam core was the next step:

Once I had let these dry for a few minutes, I got out the spray adhesive and gave it a light coat of spray.

Then, I carefully laid out the Osnaburg onto the board.  I left a 2" seam all around the edge to wrap around to the back side.

Next, I pulled the edges slightly and stapled with my gun to give the edges a smooth, crisp look.

Once the fabric was on, I put four nails into the corners directly through the board to the wall.

The nail head trim went right over the nails to hide them. 

After I had the four corners covered, I did halfway point nail heads so they would be evenly spaced apart like this:

Once that was done, I just measured 4" between the remaining nail heads and it came out pretty evenly.

Here's what was on the wall before:

-and now with my new Ballard inspired message board:

This will now be a fun spot for photos and memorabilia for our Hollister inspired office!

My brother in law was kind enough to loan me his 1969 Hawaii license plate for the room.

I also kept one of the vintage postcards (previously framed in the before shot) and added a 1963 Hawaii travel brochure that I picked up at an antique store.

I found out that you could fly round trip to Hawaii, first class, (from the West Coast) for $338!

Wouldn't that be nice!  :)

Speaking of low cost, here's the cost breakdown of my project:

foam core board: $3.49

package of cork squares: $7.99

Osnaburg fabric 1 yard (with leftovers): $4.99/ yd.

nail head trim: $1.79 per package- I used just under one and a half packages

adhesives: I used what I had on hand with my supplies

Total $20.05

I saved almost $59 to make it myself!

I hope this inspires you to make a designer piece yourself!

Happy Monday~

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