Hey Little Birdie!

For the second installment of my do-it-yourself series, I want to give you the how-to on making your very own fabric memo board. I have spotted these bad boys for sale in the chicest baby boutiques for no less than $100. That is a travesty! You can easily make your own custom version for 1/3 of that cost. I recently started on one for a friend’s baby shower. (Her nursery theme is vintage John Deere in case your were wondering about the fabric choice.)

First, I purchased a frame at IKEA and removed everything from it, saving the back insert. I hot glued a layer of cork (available at any craft store) to the back insert.

Next, I covered the cork with 2 layers of thin batting (also available at most craft stores) and hot glued it around the back of the insert.

Then, I laid the fabric across the canvas and hot glued that to the back of the insert as well.

Next is the most difficult part. Select a ribbon that coordinates with your fabric and cut it into strips to fit diagonally across your board. Then, lay out your ribbon in a grid like so:

It may take a few tries to get it looking the way you want but you basically start at the corners and go from there. It all depends on how big of “slots” you want for your memo board. Next, I stuck mini pins that I found in the sewing aisle at an angle into the “x” sections of the ribbon. This secures your grid pattern. Then I simply hot glued the edges of the ribbon behind the board.

Lastly, I stuck it all back in the frame!

The only thing I have left to do now is find some coordinating buttons and hot glue them onto the ribbons. But here is a version I did for Claire’s nursery so you can see the button placement.

Fabric memo boards are perfect for kids’ rooms, offices, kitchens, just about anywhere! You can make them as modern, fancy, simple or vintage inspired as you like. Give it a try!