Majarkeun

I took a parenting class several years ago in which the teacher encouraged us to have a "notes board" in our master bedroom to write love notes and notes of thanks and encouragement to each other. I loved the idea but I didnt want a dry erase or chalk board because I wanted to preserve the nice things we wrote to each other so we could read them over again. I made this one for my husband for Valentines Day. It hangs in my bedroom next to the bathroom door.
This wooden frame with metal inside came from Roberts Crafts in Utah. First I tore up paper and distressed the torn edges with a distressing ink pad found at craft stores in the scrapbooking section.
Here are a few of the sides.
Then I covered the wood with the paper using mod podge. Sometimes it bubbles up so I like to use a squeegee tool to smooth the paper while the mod podge is wet. Then I tied three coordinating ribbons onto one side.
I bought a sturdy journal from a department store for about $7. I covered it with matching paper, also using mod podge. I the embellished the front with some things I had left over from another project I had done and tied matching ribbons to the spiral binding.
Then I glued a piece of scrap metal (you can buy this size peice at Craft Warehouse) to the back. Then I bought some small but strong magnets at Michaels. I found it works better to glue the metal towards the bottom in case you want the binder clip on the back part of the book.
I tried to think of reasons why we wouldnt use it and prevent them...here is what I came up with.

Our flannel board has been unused for awhile now. I took it out the other day and decided it needed some new pieces to go with it. Incidentally, in case you havent made a flannel board before, Ive found the method I prefer and use is to simply buy a stretched canvas painting frame, cover it with flannel and use a staple gun to attach. Flannel boards are wonderful to have and can be used for a variety of purposes. We use our board for storytelling. In the past Ive made characters from the story and used the pieces to tell the story. Afterwards, I would leave the pieces out for my children to play with and retell themselves the story. These new pieces Ive made inspire my daughters to create their own stories or if they request one from me, I too can use them.

When I saw this fabric at Joanns I knew my daughters would be excited about having it as part of our flannel board. I purchased 1/2 a yard (more than enough) and cut out the shapes, leaving enough space to cut out around them again. (This photo is of extra play scrap fabric so dont cut this close though.) The other material needed to make these pieces is stiff fusible interfacing (the iron on kind, I got a medium weight and made sure it was stiff enough so the fabric wouldnt be floppy.)

After I cut out the fabric shapes I then laid them on top of a square of interfacing about the same size. Next, I followed the directions for ironing on the interfacing, which really was just ironing them together.

Lastly, I used pinking scissors to cut again around the shape for a clean edge. The interfacing keeps the fabric stiff and attaches easily to the flannel board. With plenty of new pieces to play with now and some new ones to make the flannel board is active again!