Bulletin Board Background and Border Ideas

Do you have a bulletin board that needs attention? Maybe you have several? Ready-made bulletin board kits and accessories can be expensive, but there are less-expensive ways to build great bulletin boards. Here are several bulletin board background and border ideas that you can use for bulletin boards on the cheap.

Bulletin Board Background Ideas:

Most bulletin board background options include a background of paper, plastic, or fabric. Think about what you have in your own home. What fabric or felt scraps do you own? What tablecloth, bed sheet, window curtain, or shower curtain do you have tucked away in a cabinet or drawer?

Any one of these could make a colorful or neutral background to cover a bulletin board. Or, you could buy a fabric remnant at a discount store. Furthermore, printed fabrics--such as nature prints--can make interesting science bulletin board backgrounds.

Your paper options include tubes of wrapping paper, butcher paper, or wall paper. Of course, you could use sheets of paper that you connect or overlay to form the background of your bulletin board.

Calendar pictures, magazine pages, book pages, newsprint, and comics make interesting and colorful bulletin board backgrounds for a classroom or office. You can laminate the items or leave them plain.

Bulletin Board Border Ideas:

For bulletin board borders, think sewing notions--lace, braid, woven trim, wide ribbon, tassels, sequins, tape-measure, garment buttons, fabric or felt cut-out. You can use hot glue or Velcro to attach small items to background fabric or to paper borders, making your bulletin board visually interesting and perhaps, interactive.

When it comes to selecting border options for your bulletin board, consider the odd and unusual. You might try creating a border with any of the following: playing cards, flashcards, game pieces, Monopoly money, old greeting cards, students' work, pictures from last year, tissue paper, muffin cups, paper plates, candy or gum wrappers, popsicle sticks, juice can lids, CD disks, or cardboard food or cereal packages.

With these bulletin board background and border ideas, you should be able to cover your bulletin board for much less cost than you thought. Be creative. Give several ideas a try, or come up with your own. Your problematic bulletin board might just become a useful teaching tool, one that has parents and teachers singing your praises.