Noticeboard

The telephone area in Rita Hill's home was a disaster. Whenever her friends rang she couldn't find a pen that worked or any notepaper! Rita solved the problem by making a noticeboard to hang on the wall next to the phone. The noticeboard is simple to make, and includes a whiteboard, a pin board, a letter holder and a penholder.

You will need

1 glossy white tile, about 30cm x 30cm MDF board to suit the size of your tile (in this case 30cm x 90cm); larger hardware stores will cut it to size for you spray adhesive craft glue, such as 450 craft glue 2 squares of brightly coloured fabric, 45cm each (Rita used suede-look fabric) industrial strength glue, such as Fullers Fulaprene 303 glue upholstery pins 2 metres coloured ribbon or elastic thumbtacks suction cup, for hanging a cup for pens on the whiteboard paper clips plastic cup whiteboard markers cork sheet

Assembling your noticeboard

1. Select your white tile and use that as a template to cut out two matching squares from the sheet of cork. The tile also determines the size of the MDF backing board for the all-in-one noticeboard.
2. Glue the tile onto the backing board, using a strong industrial adhesive. This makes an ideal whiteboard.
3. Cover each cork square with different fabric. Use spray adhesive on the cork (it is best to spray this outdoors as it requires good ventilation) to attach the fabric. Cut the excess fabric from the corners and glue down the overhanging fabric with a strong craft glue. Weigh the covered cork down with some heavy books until the glue dries. Then glue this, with industrial adhesive, to the backing board.
4. Measure and cut four lengths of ribbon or elastic and space them evenly along one of the cork sections. This will be a letter holder. Hammer the ribbon fast to the board using upholstery pins, one either end and one in the middle (it's best to do this on a workbench or table). If your MDF board is thinner than the pins then hammer the end points back into the backing board to avoid marking the wall.
5. Attach the noticeboard to the wall. You can either pin it to the wall or attach a hanging wire to the back of the board and hang it on a hook by the phone. Keep some whiteboard markers in a plastic cup attached to the whiteboard and some drawing pins in the corkboard.

Costs and suppliers

White tiles cost $3 - $5 from tile retailers nationally. Industrial strength glue (we used Fullers Fulaprene 303, $10.73), MDF board (about $5.80 for 2) and upholstery pins (around $2 a pack) are available at hardware stores. Suction cups cost $2.69 a pack from Kmart stores nationally, or phone 1800 634 251. Spray adhesive ($7.99), 450 craft glue ($9.50), and cork sheeting ($6 a roll) are available from craft stores such as Lincraft, phone 1800 640 107, website: www.lincraft.com.au Suede-look material costs $10.95 per metre, or scraps cost 40 cents each from Spotlight stores, phone (03) 9690 8899, website: www.spotlight.com.au

Further information

Instructions for making the noticeboard are in the June edition of the Burke's Backyard magazine. It's available at newsagents for $4.60.

Copyright CTC Productions 2001