Junk to an Elegant Bulletin Board

About a month ago I was asked to think of a craft to present at the Kids Picnic for Green Week at my college campus. Since my usual crafts involve fire, sharp objects, fire, smelly paints, (did I mention fire?), etcetera, I genuinely struggled to come up with something both child-friendly and ecological. I came up with this rather unique spin on a bulletin board I saw at Office Max. I reclaimed the fabric from an old throw pillow, constructed the frame from garbage wood, and used a cardboard box instead of cork-board. The idea is that you could make a similar bulletin board from old camp shirts, favorite band t-shirts, much-loved jeans and so on. Naturally, devising my own bulletin board made me wonder about the history of public announcements. I dug out my archeological tools (computer and history book, respectively) and set to work.

What I discovered is that archeologists and historians have uncovered receipts and other public records from as far back as Ancient Sumerian cultures. Apparently, as soon as people settled down they started writing down how much stuff they had and various recipes for beer (NOT to today’s quality). However, since most ancient peoples did not educate the masses, only a few elite scribes could read these messages. In fact, the ancient Phoenicians developed the idea of the Alphabet. However, it wasn’t until the rise of Athens and, later, Rome that the idea of public notifications was born.

Athens practically patented the idea of education for many people, instead of just the very rich or the very rare. Entire “schools” founded by philosophers around the 6th century BC devoted time and energy to the spreading of knowledge. The idea carried into Rome, who taught many people to at least recognize basic symbols, signs, and notices. It seems that in Rome, you would just paint notices onto walls in black or red paint in order to spread the word. Romans even invented the first form of the “post it.” They would cover a tablet with wax so they could scratch in a temporary message for whoever needed to see it. Then, when they were done with the message, they could just heat the wax and start again. Can you imagine a Roman to-do list? Wash togas, shop at market, check the wall…

The tradition of posting notices to walls evolved into nailing public announcements to church doors during the medieval times. I know it sounds rather heathen, but where else could you guarantee that at least one person in the crowd was literate? Martin Luther (the religious reformer, not the American activist) nailed his complaints against the Papal sale of indulgences to his church door.

The next great leap forward in the public service announcement world occurred at the development of the first English newspaper in 1665. At that time only one or two announcements might make it in weekly, but by American Colonial times several pages were devoted to PSAs.

With the development of television and radio, Public Service Announcements took a final step towards being in a form anyone could understand. Now you don’t have to be literate to have knowledge of world occurrences. You only need to be able to operate a remote.

Is this a step forward in the evolution of communication? Or an example of devolution? I want to hear your opinions!

Materials:

1 Old Frame

(Or, if you are masochistic like I am,

8 feet of wood moulding)

Saw (only for the above-ers)

Modge Podge

Tin Foil

Black Paint

Accent Paint(s)

1 Large Cardboard Box

“Box Cutter” Knife & Scissors

Fabric Swatch

(big enough to fill your frame)

Spray Adhesive

Glue Gun

Duct Tape (Optional)

Thumb Tacks (“Pushpins”)

1)     Measure the length of your wood. Measure twice, (or three times…or four times) mark out four equal lengths and cut once.

2)     The theory is that you can just hot glue the ends together with overlapping sides. The reality is that I should have measured again, and I had to go back and re-saw the ends. Well . . . my boyfriend/assistant/perennial helper went back and cut them.

3)     Now is the part that the folks who had an extra frame hanging around can jump in. Coat 1 side of your frame with a thick layer of Modge Podge, also going slightly up each corner.

4)     To make the aluminum foil look like silver leaf, rip it into strips and scrunch lightly in the palm of your hand. Unfold it and smooth it as flat as you can.

5)     Layer the aluminum foil around the frame. The key is to have a layer of glue under and above the foil at all times.

6)     When the frame has been thoroughly covered and the Modge Podge has dried, it is time to add some detail to your work! At this point my brother wandered into the room and asked me why I covered a frame with tin foil . . .  after a dirty look I have patented as my “glare of death” he wandered back out. Get out an old plastic container and pour in about two tablespoons of black paint. At the time I used water to loosen my black paint, but my father has since taught me that bubble juice works much better. He has a whole theory that you should ask him about sometime.

7)     ANYWAY, the next step is to mix the black paint with the bubble juice and apply it to your frame. You want to get definition of the crinkles, not coverage, so, if you need too, wipe off/blot up some of the paint goo.

8)     WAIT FOR THE BLACK TO DRY. Now, if you have other color (metallic) paint colors you want to apply, use the same aforementioned technique in different areas.

9)     Wait for the newest paint layer to dry. If you need to touch up any wood that is peeking through at this point, you can use some handy-dandy spray paint.

10)  On to the bulletin part! Start by re-measuring your frame (trust me, it’s not the same for some reason). Lay out your cardboard on the ground and cut out the size you need (about 1/2” smaller than the frame).

11)  Glue several layers of the cardboard together with hot glue.

12)  Lay your cardboard on your fabric and cut about 1” trim of fabric around the border.

13)   Spray the adhesive on one side of the cardboard. To get the fabric on, start at the bottom and work your way up, smoothing with your hands.

14)  Flip the cardboard over. I sprayed the edge of the cardboard with the adhesive. Flip the fabric trim up and fold at edges. Duct tape the seams.

15)  Hot glue the frame to the cardboard (right side up). Start with the edges, and then run beads of hot glue along the trim until there is no separation.

16) Get out your push-pins and attach pictures, notes, or other important items to the board.

Good Luck! And tell me what you think!