Painted Cork Bulletin Board

A DIY painted cork bulletin board can give your office, craft room or playroom some EXTRA personality!

I’ll be showing you how you can paint a bold design on a plain bulletin board to give it a fun and whimsical look. You can use my design or paint any color scheme you desire.

I chose bright and bold colors since I’ll be using the bulletin board in my craft room which looks like a box of crayons exploded in there!

PAINTED CORK BULLETIN BOARD

I purchased my bulletin board at a thrift store for $2.25. It was in pretty good shape and was just asking for a fun makeover!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• 17 x 23 cork bulletin board
  • Quartet brand at Michaels
• painter’s tape
• Apple Barrel craft paint
• foam brushes
• artist brush
• scissors
• ruler
• pencil
• sand paper
• variety of 5 ribbons
• joint compound ~ if needed

APPLE BARREL PAINT COLORS USED:

• turquoise ~ 20210
• bright red ~ 20501
• harvest orange ~ 20589E
• bright yellow ~20513
• kiwi ~ 20221
• spring green ~ 20587
• black ~ 20504

HOW TO PAINT A CORK BULLETIN BOARD ~ 6 STEPS

STEP 1 – PREP BULLETIN BOARD FOR PAINTING

Repair if needed ~ Check the corner joints on the board as they may need some spackle or joint compound to fill in the gaps. I also filled in the little slits on the outside of the joints where the frame was assembled. After the spackle is dry, sand until smooth.

Clean and sand: Since I purchased my board from the thrift store, I also cleaned the board to remove any dirt. I also sanded the rest of the frame in case of any wood pieces that may cause splinters.

STEP 2 – CREATE A DESIGN

The picture below shows where I have already marked my design on the cork using a pencil and ruler. The design is a brick pattern measured for a 17 x 23 bulletin board.

• measure the cork portion in length and mark into thirds
• do the same with the width to form a brick pattern

TIP: If you choose to create a different design for your board, sketch your design out on scrap paper prior to marking on the cork. You can make simple shapes like I did or use a stencil for a different look.

STEP 3 – TAPE OFF AND PAINT FRAME

I chose 6 colors and placed the bottles on the bulletin board to get an idea of the color placement for the rectangles. It’s better to plan this before you actually start painting.

• place painter’s tape next to the frame to prevent black paint on cork
• use foam brush to paint the frame black (mine only needed one coat)
• also paint the 2 circle hook/hangers that are attached for hanging the board

STEP 4 – PAINT THE LARGE RECTANGLES

• apply painter’s tape at the pencil marks (see photo below)
• use a foam brush to paint the rectangles
• paint inward where taped off so you don’t have bleeding into surrounding rectangles
• squeeze paint in a few small spots on the rectangle
• spread paint around and then pounce into the cork holes

I painted in the following order:

• tape off rectangle 1 and 3
• paint, let dry, remove tape
• tape off rectangle 2
• paint, let dry, remove tape

TIP: My bulletin board has a slight gap between the cork and frame. You will need to position the painter’s tape to overlap the inset of the frame. I used a scissor blade to run along the edge which tucked the overlap inside the gap / under the frame top.

STEP 5 – PAINT THE SMALL RECTANGLES

Follow the same steps as above for painting, except now you can tape off all three small rectangles at the same time.

After all the tape has been removed, you can use an artist brush to touch up any small paint bleeds if needed.

STEP 6 – ADD THE RIBBONS

I used a variety of 5 ribbon patterns ~ polka dot and gingham. I had ribbon on hand, but you can find ribbon at the Dollar Tree or reasonable priced at Walmart.

• cut each ribbon 13 inches long
• pull each ribbon through the circle hook/hanger ~ 4 on each side
• tie the ribbons together as if one ribbon
• arrange for best look
• trim each ribbon end to desired length ~ leave some short and some long

Yay, all done! I can’t wait to start pinning up my lists for “projects to make,” “crafts supplies to buy,” “craft ideas,” etc.. What color scheme will you use for your painted cork bulletin board

MORE PAINTED CRAFTS YOU MAY LIKE:

This month, I teamed up with a group of creative bloggers for a thrift store challenge. Our mission was to take a thrift store or garage sale item and make it into new decor. After you see my project, be sure to visit their thrift makeovers at the end of this post. Don’t miss out!

CONTINUE TO SEE MORE THRIFT STORE UPCYCLES FROM MY FELLOW BLOGGERS!

MEET THE HOSTS:

Simply Beautiful by Angela – Cookies Coffee and Crafts – Our Hopeful Home – Southern Sunflowers

CLICK THE BLUE BUTTON BELOW AND YOU WILL BE REDIRECTED TO EACH POST.