The Command Center

Recently I shared our new week-at-a-glance calendar that I nicknamed "mission control" and today I'm going to show how I made our new "command center." Apparently I think I'm working for NASA over here!

The school year is off to a good start and the new calendar has been a great way to keep track of what's going on this week. But we also need a spot for all the other crap that needs to be organized and easy to find. You know, emergency info, babysitter info, etc. I wanted a bulletin board for our command center, but I didn't want to hang a boring old cork board in my lovely new kitchen so instead I got a little crafty.

Supplies
Cork canvases
Fabric (as much as you need for the size and number of your canvases)
Spray Adhesive
Staple gun & mid-weight staples or a hammer and brads or small nails
Ribbon, etc for trim (optional)

I started out with two 13x13 cork canvases that I found at Joanns for about $8. I wanted something with a little dimension and the canvas style was perfect. I also found a fabric I liked at Target... in the curtain aisle. Sometimes fabric pops up in unexpected places!

Lay the cork board on the fabric, wrong-side up, using the hemmed edges as a guide. 

Measure about 3 1/2" from the larger seam so the fabric wouldn't lay to thick on the finished side of the cork. I only measured in about 2 1/4" from the smaller seam because obviously there isn't as much thickness to worry about.

You can use chalk or anything that won't bleed through the fabric to mark out cutting lines so the fabric wraps all the way around the canvas. Then trim along the lines.

Coat the cork with a thin coat of spray adhesive and center on the fabric, making sure that the pattern is running straight across the front of the cork board. If the pattern is lopsided, it will look funny when the cork board is hanging. 

Then wrap the edges of the fabric over the back of the cork board and staple along the edges using a staple gun. You could also use small finishing nails or brads, but a staple gun is faster and easier (and not very expensive). Staple fast... the baby will be waking from his nap soon!

Staple two sides that are opposite one another, being sure to pull the fabric taut. On the ends, I tucked the corners in like I was wrapping a present and folded it over as I stapled along the edge. Once everything is stapled down firmly, trim the excess fabric. 

The cork boards that I bought came with Command strips for hanging. I figured since nothing too heavy will be hanging on these boards, I'd give it a try. I can always attach picture hangers later but for now here's hoping they just stay up without any nail holes. 

Next to our bulletin boards, I put up a new calendar that I printed out on mid-weight cardstock from a blog I found on a link party. I can't find the link now though so if it looks familiar, please let me know so I can give credit. The calendar is super cute and FREE and runs August 2012 to July 2013. 

Obviously more will be going on the bulletin boards, but I really wanted to snap a picture of the project before it becomes a cluttered mess organizing masterpiece. Here's our new command center!

Linking up to these awesome parties...