How to make a ribbon board:
What you need: Painting canvas, quilt batting, fabric, buttons (small), ribbon (~40 yards), decorative beads (with a flat backing and larger than the buttons), needle and thread, glue gun, staple gun
A ribbon board can be a great gift for any occasion, and you can choose materials to accent any décor. Glue the board into an open frame to add a decorative finish around the edge! Make one for a friend, or make one for your own room or office to display your favorite pictures, invitations, notes, etc – get creative!
Before purchasing your materials, decide on the canvas size that will look best in your space. Once you have done this and have an idea of the color scheme you want to work with, head to your nearest craft store! I would recommend buying your canvas and fabric first so that you can then coordinate the accent décor.
For the ribbon board shown throughout the post, I used a light lavender fabric (kudos to my coworker for knowing his wife’s favorite color!) as the base. To add contrast, I chose dark brown, thin ribbon and flat brown and white disc-shaped beads to attach at the intersection points of the ribbon.
I started by covering the canvas with three layers of batting (use two if you have thicker batting), and securing it to the wooden frame of the canvas using a staple gun. Make sure to pull the batting taut around the edges to create an even surface.
After ironing the fabric, I again used the staple gun to attach one end to the back of the canvas, and pulled it taut over the batting so that the surface was slightly cushioned but smooth and even. I folded the fabric in at the corners, similar to how you would wrap a present, to create clean edges. Make sure to staple the fabric as flat as possible to the back of the canvas and cut off any excess so that your board can lie flush against a wall.
Once the base was complete, I started attaching the ribbons. To ensure that each ribbon diamond was uniform in size, I first decided on even increments that fit the size of the canvas. For my 22” x 28” canvas, I measured four increments of 5.5” on the 22” side and five increments of 5.6” on the 28” side, making light pencil marks on the edge of the board to mark these points. I would recommend making your marks between 5″ and 6″ apart so that the board can easily hold pictures, but it’s up to you!
Once the board was marked, I attached each ribbon piece to the back of the board, starting in one corner and making my way to the opposite end. I only used one (large) dot of glue on the back of the canvas to attach each ribbon, and then moved to the other corner to attach ribbons perpendicular to the previous set, creating diamonds. Make sure to buy enough ribbon – you will use more than you expect, as learned from personal experience.
Before buttoning down the points of intersection, I measured the diamonds to make sure they were the correct size and held them in place using them using sewing pins. Then, I used a needle and thread to attach buttons at each point of intersection through all layers of the board, creating tufts and giving the board texture.
Once all buttons were secure, my coworker chose a great pattern using brown and white beads, and we glued them directly on top of the buttons. They were the perfect finishing touch to the chic and polished accent piece!
To hang the board currently displaying all of my favorite pictures and invites in my room, I hammered three thumb tacks into the wall and placed the board on the tacks using the wooden frame of the canvas. I had to add more staples to the back to flatten the batting and fabric, but it’s been on my wall for over a year now, so I must have done something right! Have fun!
