DIY- Ribbon Board Re-Do

Hey Cats!

In 21 days, I will be moving back to the Promised Land, into a house with three other girls. And I am SO EXCITED. Since I'm transitioning from the dorm to a real house, I've changed things up a little bit, including the color scheme of my room. You may remember that I went with a beach theme in the dorm, light blues, greens, coral, etc. This time around, I've decided to go with light blue, gray, and dark purple. I've been able to keep a lot of my blue stuff, like my bedspread, pictures, lamps, and pillows. I've also decided to re-do a couple of things I already had. I didn't want to part with some of it, and I still needed some, so instead of spending lots of money on buying new things, I spent a little money on updating them! One of the things I had that I absolutely loved and did not want to get rid of was a memory board my aunt made for me. I love pictures, so I obviously can't do without one of these. The only problem was that it was lime green, which totally doesn't match my room anymore. So I got some new fabric & ribbon, and an hour or so later, I had an updated version of one of my dorm room faves!

This is what I started with. Isn't it cutie? Sadly, not with purple and blue.

Here's what you will need:
-1 memory board (Mine is made out of one of those posterboards with the foam and a thin layer of cotton quilt batting. If you have one you bought from somewhere, you could still try this, but it will probably be more difficult to take apart, but I have faith in you. Just don't injure yourself. OR if you want to make one, just get one of the posterboards mentioned above & some quilt batting!)
- Enough fabric to cover the front of the board. I used 1/2 of a yard, and have plenty left over to make pillows with!
-Ribbon. I just used one spool, but I probably should have used two.
-Brads, furniture tacks, or buttons. I used some really cute brads from the scrapbooking section in Hobby Lobby.

I hadn't bought the brads yet. Sorry. Also, that's my favorite nail polish.

Here's what you do:

1. First, remove all the buttons or tacks from the board. Mine were buttons, so it was fairly easy to just cut them off, but if yours has tacks, it might be a little harder.
2. Second, using a staple-puller, flat screwdriver (what I used), scissors, or your fingernails (which I wouldn't reccommend, then they'll look like crap), remove the ribbon. Make sure you don't accidentally remove the staples that are holding down the fabric, just the ribbon!

3. Next, measure and cut the fabric. I did this by laying the fabric print-side down on the floor and laying the board fabric-side down on top of it. Then I cut it, leaving enough fabric on each side to overlap & staple down on the back. Also, make sure you iron your fabric before you staple it, because wrinkles are ugly, and that it's pulled really tight, because it will also be ugly if it's loose.

Before I cut it, obviously. I used the existing fabric as a guide for how much fabric to overlap.

4. Now you're ready to staple! Make sure that the fabric is tight, and if it has a pattern that the pattern is straight. I folded the edge of mine twice and then stapled it. I used just a regular stapler, because I wasn't sure if heavy duty staples would have gone through the front. This part takes the longest, but it's not hard! Just make sure that every staple gets in there like it's supposed to, or else it won't hold together very well. Keep going all the way around! I would suggest using extra staples on the corners, since you'll probably have more fabric there.


This is the double fold, before I started stapling. Make sure it extends a little further than the original fabric.

Here's what the back looks like finished!

And here's the front!

5. Ribbon time! Take the end of your ribbon and staple it on the back of the board, diagonally through the center of the point on the corner.

It's not very pretty, but you get the idea.



6. Next, stretch the ribbon diagonally across the board, making sure it's tight and straight. Staple the end to the back side of the opposite corner from which you started.

Be sure to pull it really tight, or your pictures will fall out!

7. Do the same thing on the opposite corners.

I'm running out of things to say for photo captions...

8. Continue adding ribbon to make more small diamonds. I measured the distance from the middle to make sure I spaced them evenly.

I probably could have used more ribbon, but this will be fine, too!

9. Now it's time for the brads/buttons/whatever. Like I said, I used brads from the scrapbooking section, but if you want to use buttons or something more sturdy, that would probably be wise.

10. Poke a hole where you want the brad to go, usually in the middle of where the two ribbons cross. My brads didn't go all the way through all the layers, so I used a nail and my brute strength to push it through.

If you're using buttons, skip this step & just sew it on. Good luck with that.

11. Take your hole-poking tool out and replace it with the brad. Secure it on the back by folding the prongs down.



It's a rose!



12. Repeat for each ribbon intersection! I used a different brad for each one, and it turned out super cutie!


So there it is! This was super easy and inexpensive, and I can't wait to put it up in my room and fill it with pictures! I have a few more DIY's coming soon, and hopefully I'll be able to do another recipe before I leave for school! Until next time!