Hello DIY friends! One of my favorite stores is Michaels – although it’s one of those stores that I can’t run in for just one thing because I end up with a cart full of the cutest decorative accents and more materials for my craft stash. You too, right? Well, Michaels just announced the addition of pre-cut craft fabric to the thousands of creative products available in its stores, providing us with one-stop shopping for DIY projects. This is BIG HUGE news when you live in a smaller city with only one local fabric store! While I was there, I also discovered that Michaels sells a complete line of sewing supplies as well…this cuts my shopping time in half. One store instead of two. Bonus!

Michaels supplied me with this awesome stash of fabric as a part of a promotion for their new line of home decor fabric. Isn’t it darling? 

The alphabet burlap is ADORABLE! and a perfect match for my craft room so I decided I would make myself a burlap covered corkboard message center to help keep me organized. Cork board, Chalk board, Clip board AND burlap? That’s what I’m talking about! A fun combo!

Materials:

• 36″ x 24″ framed corkboard
• Crafty Cuts alphabet burlap
• 4 pieces of thin wood trim (Michael’s also sells a small miter box & saw)
• Black spray paint (or you could probably get away with one can of chalkboard spray paint)
• Spray adhesive
• 3 clipboards
• Chalkboard spray paint
• Hot glue (and hot glue gun)
• Embellishments
• Push pins

Corkboard/Chalkboad/Clipboard Message Center Tutorial:

1. Measure and (miter) cut small trim pieces to fit inside of the corkboard’s frame. 

2. Iron burlap. I used my iron’s highest setting and sprayed water (not steamed) to get out wrinkles. Iron both sides. 

3. Measure inside of corkboard frame and cut a piece of the burlap to those measurements (mine was 34.5″ x 22.5″). If you subtract 1/4″, it will save you from having to trim the fit later. If it’s a smidge small, it’s okay (and actually better) and will be hidden by the added wood trim later. Set fabric piece aside. 

4. Spray paint the corkboard frame and trim pieces black. I was okay with imperfect coverage for a distressed look. (You could also sand edges when dry.) No need to tape the corkboard since it’ll be covered later. Let paint dry. 

5. Give the cut burlap piece a coat of spray adhesive on the back side.  (I do this outside because of the overspray but be mindful of the wind direction blowing the adhesive spray mist as well as when picking up the sticky burlap, not to touch/fold which mine did but easily quickly pulled apart.) Immediately move to step 6.

6. Working from the middle out, smooth the burlap over the corkboard (inside the frame). It’ll be reposition-able right away if needed. 

7. Next I used hot glue to attach my small mitered trim pieces over the burlap edges, right next to the inside of the corkboard frame. This covers the edge of the burlap.

If you need to re-cut a mitered piece or accidentally scratch the black paint finish, simply fix it with a black Sharpie.

8. Embellish as desired. My mitered edges surprisingly were a great fit after the mitered cut fix above, but these adorable flower embellishments attached with hot glue would work for covering a not so professional {tricky cuts!} mitered fit too. 

9. Clipboards: Remove metal clip hardware, coat with chalkboard paint, let dry and repeat a second coat and let dry. 

10. Season chalkboard by rubbing the length of a piece of chalk over the complete surface then erasing. 

11. Re-attach clips. I found that using a twist tie to hold the clip open then lining up screws made reattaching the clip to the board a lot easier (because of the spring in the clip). Once screws are in place and tightened, remove twist tie. 

12. Embellish chalkboard clipboards if desired. I numbered mine and added some cute stickers. 

13. Hang! Corkboard should come with hanging hardware but large Command strips will work too. 

It’s perfect for my black, natural, vintage inspired craft room. Lovin’ it!

There’s a lot of “stuff” in this room but it is clean and organized!

I was provided with fabric and a Michaels gift card to complete the challenge. Michaels.com and Michaels Pinterest Boards feature project ideas that use fabric, including throw pillows, lamp shades, chair seat covers, and bracelets. Laminated burlap, a Michaels limited exclusive, can be fed through most home printers to add personalized messages and images to fabric projects…I want to try that next!