Picture frame turned message board

So, I made this a while back and couldn't figure out why I haven't posted it. I picked this out at work (don't worry they were giving them away). It's actually a mugshot of a prisoner from Leavenworth Penitentiary. I was going to hang it above our guest bed, but my husband's sense of humor can be pretty different from mine.

So, since we have a baby on the way, and I didn't want to just hang a tacky calendar there I decided to turn this into a ribbon message board/chalkboard. It was a pretty cheap metal frame (also not square) so I didn't feel like I was ruining any piece of great artwork.

There was already a nail there (from the aforementioned tacky calendar) so I hung the picture vertically to see if it would fit. Who knew it was exactly the size I pictured in my head. So, I clapped my hands, did my happy dance and then proceeded to take the frame apart.

I didn't have any cork board at the time (and when I have a project in mind, I want to start right now and finish it in the next half hour). First I measured and divided the frame in half so I would have to even pieces of board. So, the backing of the frame was actually foam board, so I cut a piece of thin cotton batting and then a plain piece of white fabric to fit the top half of the board and then taped them to the back using painters tape.

I had this big ol' chalkboard I had spray painted a long time ago. It was just the backing to a big poster frame I used for another project. So, I had my husband cut a piece to fit the bottom half of the foam board on his table saw. This is thin material, and I'm sure you could use a hand saw or a jigsaw if you had it. I didn't glue down the chalkboard, I just kind of set it there.

The ribbon is just black quilt binding. I know this thing looks kind of boring, but I knew I would have different shapes and colors of notes and messages on there. Plus I just didn't want it to stand out. I just laid the binding over the top half of the board from corner to corner and left about a half an inch extra on each side then cut. I did the same for the opposite corners to make an 'X.' I did the same with the other pieces (to make a diamond through the X). You can do any shape with the ribbon.

You can also use push pins or buttons and cover them with fabric or paint them to put where your ribbon pieces cross. I didn't bother (not until my daughter is old enough to start wanting to play with it and then maybe I'll have to make it more secure).

I reassembled the frame and had to use a bench scraper to tuck the ribbon pieces tightly into the frame. That was it. Oh, and I decided to put the chalk board on the bottom half of the frame because when you go to write or erase the chalkboard the messy stuff won't fall onto your ribbon board. See I actually put some thought into this!

Make one and send pictures! I found a large ribbon board and my parents house I'm going to recover and hang in my daughter's room. So, more pictures to come!