I just put mine up toward the end of the school year and I LOVE it! I found mine at Walmart and it's a tigger cloth (fairly heavy duty). It came in a wide width which was perfect for attaching to the bulletin boards. I just stapled it on and then added border as usual. It looks so much brighter than paper.
I've been using fabric for years. It doesn't seem to fade like paper does, and it's really easy to put up. I use staples (my bulletin board is cork). It will look good until you get tired of it. I get cotton material from Wal-mart. It comes in all kinds of colors and patterns. My science board has fabric with bugs printed all over it! I've never had a problem with holes showing. I usually put a border around the edges of the board after the fabric goes on (just as I would if I were using paper). My board is actually VERY long, so I get two or three different fabrics in coordinating colors and make several boards out of the one long one (with border dividing them). I've used fabric to cover my classroom door in the past (I put it on with heavy-duty tape) but I'm in a room now where the door has this ugly metal hinge thing sticking out of it and it's too much trouble to make any kind of covering fit around it.
I enjoy using fabric on my (cork) bulletin board. Regular staples work The best place to get the fabric is Wal-Mart, particularly the $1 fabric. Seasonal fabric goes on sale (half off). You can get some great bargains, and your bulletin boards really look great!
I only use fabric. It looks so much fresher than paper over time. I am also a Walmart fabric shopper. I know some people like fun patterns to go with themes, but I personally like the solid colors because I feel the patterns are visually overwhelming and look too busy when you hang things on them. I have found the best way to hang the fabric is to put a pushpin in the corners to make sure it is straight and then pull tight and staple the edges. I then use a warm iron and go over them to get out any creases.
I use solid color burlap on my boards. Does not show staple holes at all! I use staples to attach it to the board and trim it out with a border. It has been up there for 3-5 years! I love it!
I use fabric on all of my bulletin boards. Measure the bulletin board and purchase the amount that will cover the board from top to bottom. Our boards are no more than 60 inches, and we look for that measurement so we don't have to piece anything together. I generally use a busy pattern as opposed to a solid, and no, you can't see the staple marks. Even when I have used a solid, the marks are not noticeable. I have kept my fabrics up for years, because I haven't noticed any fading like I do with paper. On my outside bulletin board, I tend to change that fabric seasonally. I staple the fabric on the board. I have also used wrapping paper as a backing. It's cheaper, and I have used it when I am doing a seasonal board, like winter. That is cheaper than fabric, but of course, not durable. I have also stapled layers of fabric over existing fabric if I'm pressed for time, and I just remove the fabrics at the end of the year with no harm done.
I have one bulletin board wall--floor to ceiling, wall to wall. I covered mine with sheets! They have been up now for 3 1/2 years! They have not faded at all, but they aren't directly near the windows (the wall is on the east side of the room, windows on the south) i got the sheets pretty cheap-solid blue, on sale, ended up being less per yard than fabric from sewing dept. Can't remember, tho', if I got 2 queen size or king size to cover the wall.
Teacher across the hall bought a bolt of lt. blue chambray from Wal-Mart. Covered her bulletin board wall and had enough to make matching curtains.
Another teacher does the seasonal fabric thing. Cute boards.
I have used colored burlap the last 4 years on my boards, using staples to keep it in place. I like the solid look and it adds a little bit of texture to the board. It has faded a little, but when I put it up for the coming school year I plan on flipping it over.
I have used fabric on my boards for the past 6 years. That fabric still looks like I just bought it. I got primary solids the first time. The last time I got primary colors with a hint of white. I have also found some good patterns at yard sales. I love it. We spray our fabric with flame retartant stuff before we put them up. They never fade and they keep the room looking bright.
As for attaching them, I put staples on one side and smooth it out to staple the other side. That way you can't see them once the border goes around the fabric.
Last edited by Terri in NC; 06-28-2007 at 07:33 PM..
Reason: needed to add on somethng else
I've had the same fabric on my three bulletin boards since 1998! I have two solid colors and one "teacher print". I got it all at Wal-Mart . . . although our closest store doesn't sell it anymore. I'm now having to go 60 miles to get to one with fabric!
I stapled around the edges tightly. The only place mine is showing wear is the section where I staple the menu every week. I'm switching to a new location next year.
The best advice is to choose a fabric that isn't too thin. (If it is really thin, you will see the bulletin board underneath.) Walmart always has good clearance fabric. I just staple mine up. Mine have lasted for a few years.
use fabric. It is easy to put up, looks pretty and lasts a long time. I like to put push pins in mine to hold it up and then staple and put a border around it!!!!!!
I love going to Walmart and picking out fabric for my BB's. I use bright colors; some solids and some patterns. I did pick out one last year that had a very busy pattern. My co-teacher suggested a change because it was kind of an optical illusion and was making her kind of sick to her stomach. I've got one long wall of bulletin board 48" by 18 feet so I buy 45" material and break it up into three or four different boards. Regular borders around the edges. At the end of the year I pull mine down and wash the material.
and don't think I'll ever go back to paper. I buy mainly solid colors usually at Wal-mart. Like another poster said, be sure to get something kind of thick or the cork might show through. I just change borders when I change the theme of the board and it looks totally different. Have had my stuff for 5 years now and it hasn't faded! I do like another poster said and iron them once I have them on the board to get out any wrinkles from being stored, but often I just cover them with garbage bags or newsprint during the summer and don't even take them down.
I love fabric on bulletin boards! I will never use paper again. You can get twin-sized sheets for really cheap at garage sales or flea markets
I hot glued my fabric to the bulletin boards along the outer edges, so I don't even have to use a border if I don't want to. I also use the same colors all year long and just change the actual BB pieces.
Holes don't show, and I'm on my third year with the same fabric.
Fabric is great! Just check out your bulletin board first. Last year, I bought some heavier blue weave material, and when I stapled anything else over it, it did not hold very well, staples would not go through material, item, and BB. I had to use push pins to keep anything up. I think my BB was a different type of cork or something. I should have used cotton. I guess what I am trying to say is: don't use any fabric that is too heavy. Cotton works great.
I not only use fabric for my bulletin boards, but I staple it up in the back of my room and put a border around it. I can section off my room by the fabric areas. Gecko village is reading. Tigers are maps and social studies.
The fabric not only lasts all year, but I've had the gecko fabric for 3 years. I'm tired of it now and I'm going to switch this year, but I'll save it for our other bulletin boards.
I love to use fabric on my bulletin boards. I'm like another poster..I'll not use paper anymore. BUT, a teacher friend shared this idea
with me last year, and it works WONDERFULLY!!!! I used those thin plastic table clothes last year; they usually come in bright, solid colors, and I got them at the Dollar Store. I stapled it to my BB, and it lasted all year (doesn't rip if your careful, cork BB doesn't show through). I added a new border each month. It really looked great!!
I bought a bunch when I started teaching, but unfortunately, none of it is flame retardant. I'm going to have to start shoppign for some new (and much more expensive) fabric....
I also love the black. I thought I would think it was too dark, but it's great!
I had no idea so many people were using fabric on their bbs! You all have convinced me to give it a try! I don't usually like to shop at Walmart, but may make an exception. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions.
I purchased my BB fabric at WalMart. But I do know that they are phasing it out of some of their stores. In my area I think only two still have fabric.
Triana00: Our school was told by the fire marshall that there is a spray that can make any fabric flame retardant. Our building manager bought it and we sprayed ours. Check and see if you can do that so you don't have to buy more expensive fabric!
I know they make a spray, but so far we haven't been told that we're allowed to use it, although I've been asking. Maybe if I keep begging the answer will be yes?? We should be able to use the spray for our carpets too!
I used fabric as well, and bought some really cute polka dot ribbon on clearance last summer for borders. Thefabric and ribbon stayed up all year with staples and they are going up again next year in my new room!
It's durable and doesn't add more paper to the garbage!
I've gotten fabric from lots of other places besides Walmart.
JoAnn Fabrics has been a great place, and even the local fabric stores have sale bins. I've never paid more than $1-2 a yard. My bulletin boards take less than a yard, so it's still cheap.
I love using fabric! I started when bulliten board paper ran extremely low one year as we were setting up our rooms -- I only had the choice of black, orange or bright pink -- none that I particularly wanted to use. So I happened to have a length of dark green fabric that I had used as a table covering the previous year. I cut that into two, and stapled it onto my two bulliten boards. Worked wonderfully for the year -- put things up and took them down on the boards, and no holes were visible.
And the best part came at the end of the year. I took the fabric down (as we are required to take everything off our boards), folded it up, and at the start of the next year, it was already trimmed and ready to go. Just stapled it up again. And I bought an additional length of green fabric for my third bulliten board . . . since I liked using fabric so much.
So, yes, I love it. It's made the beginning of the year so much easier. No more dealing with unweldy rolls of bulliten board paper. I've used this same green fabric for the last five years and am planning on using it again next year. It still looks great -- I just change the border around it every once awhile, and I have feeling, no one even knows how long my bulliten board covering has been around
As many of you already mentioned, Wal-Mart is a great place to get cheap fabric. I have always gotten it there. I was at my local Wal-Mart and was shocked to see they are phasing out the fabric dept. They said that all of our local ones will sooner or later be doing that. Some not until next year. I may have to stock up on some if that is the case!
Are you local ones doing the same???? I know another poster mentioned this was happening in their area too. It is so much cheaper there! Now they are on sale which is great, but many of the cute ones are gone.
i love fabric for my boards.. i teach social studies and found a really neat map fabric that honestly.. i just put up with a nice boarder and didn't even cover it up.. used it as a quick ref. of a map instead of having to pull it down and such.. and we put pins in the places we studied as we went!!
but since i have this thing against walmart i dont shop there... Jo-Anns fabric has a great discount rack.. and you can get yards for as low as $1.
I use fabric and I even cheat a bit on the bulletin board for the hallway. Before the year begins, I layer blue fabric under green fabric under red fabric under orange fabric under black fabric. (Yes, it can be tough to staple, but I use cheap thin cloth.) Then, as the year goes by I already have the color I want for the next seasons.
Black- sharp and classy for the beginning of the year (I tend to use a space theme)
Orange- Halloween and Thanksgiving
Red-Christmas and Valentine's Day
Green-St. Patricks Day and Springtime
Blue-End of year/Summer
06-28-2007, 04:14 PM
I get cotton material from Wal-mart. It comes in all kinds of colors and patterns. My science board has fabric with bugs printed all over it! I've never had a problem with holes showing. I usually put a border around the edges of the board after the fabric goes on (just as I would if I were using paper). My board is actually VERY long, so I get two or three different fabrics in coordinating colors and make several boards out of the one long one (with border dividing them). I've used fabric to cover my classroom door in the past (I put it on with heavy-duty tape) but I'm in a room now where the door has this ugly metal hinge thing sticking out of it and it's too much trouble to make any kind of covering fit around it.
I've got one long wall of bulletin board 48" by 18 feet so I buy 45" material and break it up into three or four different boards. Regular borders around the edges. At the end of the year I pull mine down and wash the material.
BUT, a teacher friend shared this idea 
I used those thin plastic table clothes last year; they usually come in bright, solid colors, and I got them at the Dollar Store. I stapled it to my BB, and it lasted all year (doesn't rip if your careful, cork BB doesn't show through). I added a new border each month. It really looked great!! 
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