One of my favourite things in all the world is seeing bright rainbow colours on white backgrounds. That’s just one of the reasons why our House of Mahalo logo looks the way it does!
Which is why when I brought home some bright and colourful fabric, I was instantly inspired.
What could I make with it I thought… and then it came like a flash! Wouldn’t this brighten up my desk a bit?
After that, it wasn’t long before I was repurposing an old canvas into a DIY fabric notice board. And here’s how you can also make a padded bulletin board in just one single afternoon!
DIY Fabric Notice Board Supply List
- Cheap canvas (go for whatever size you want; we chose A3)
- Fabric of your choice (the brighter the better!)
- Wadding
- Staple gun
- Glue gun
- Coloured fabric ribbon (to contrast with your fabric)
- Buttons (to decorate the ribbon)
Colourful Fabrics We Love
Sadly I can’t remember where I bought the fabric we used from but there are lots of bright and colourful designs on Etsy to help inspire you.
Here are a bunch of colourful fabrics we love that would work well for this project:
1. Light Blue Rainbow Rain Organic Jersey from FredandBear
2. Strawberry Tea Organic Cotton Jersey from FredandBear
3. Bright Flowers Cotton Fabric from LuluscraftshopUK
4. Palm Tropical Leaves Cotton from MyLushFabric
5. Colourful Vegetables Fabric from fashionformulauk
6. Colourful Butterflies Cotton from KimsCraftyCornerUK
7. Colourful Fruit Fabric from fashionformulauk
8. Big Love Cotton Fabric from MyYOUniqueShop
DIY Fabric Notice Board – How To Make A Padded Bulletin Board
1. Start by layering your fabric and wadding over the canvas, ensuring you leave enough material to cover all the edges of the canvas.
2. Using a staple gun, staple your fabric and wadding to the wood on the back of your canvas on all sides.
REMEMBER: Pull your fabric tight as you staple so you get a wrinkle-free finish.
3. Measure and cut your ribbon into strips to match the size of your canvas. You’ll be doing a criss-cross pattern across the front so bear this in mind when you measure your strips.
4. Starting in one corner, lay a strip of ribbon diagonally across your canvas and staple it to the back (just like you did with your fabric).
REMEMBER: Don’t staple the ribbon to the front of the canvas as this will stop you from being able to slot memos and notes behind the ribbon for safe keeping.
TIP: Pull your ribbons fairly taut so they hold your memos more securely.
5. Staple your next strip of ribbon in the same way leaving roughly 3.5 inches between the first strip and this one.
6. Keep stapling your ribbon diagonally until you’ve covered your canvas with ribbon evenly spaced apart.
7. Next, staple more ribbon diagonally; this time in the opposite direction from before so you make a charming criss-cross pattern across the whole canvas. This is how you’ll keep your memos in place once your homemade notice board has taken pride of place in your kitchen or study.
8. Glue your buttons into place ensuring each intersection of ribbon has a button decoration. You could also sew the buttons on if you prefer.
And hey presto! You have a homemade notice board completely customised by you!

DIY Fabric Notice Board
Fancy repurposing an old canvas into a DIY fabric notice board? Here's how you can make a padded bulletin board in just one single afternoon.
Materials
- Canvas
- Fabric of your choice
- Wadding
- Coloured fabric ribbon
- Buttons
Tools
- Staple gun
- Glue gun
Instructions
- Start by layering your fabric and wadding over the canvas, ensuring you leave enough material to cover all the edges of the canvas.
- Using a staple gun, staple your fabric and wadding to the wood on the back of your canvas on all sides. REMEMBER: Pull your fabric tight as you staple so you get a wrinkle-free finish.
- Measure and cut your ribbon into strips to match the size of your canvas. You’ll be doing a criss-cross pattern across the front so bear this in mind when you measure your strips.
- Starting in one corner, lay a strip of ribbon diagonally across your canvas and staple it to the back (just like you did with your fabric). REMEMBER: Don’t staple the ribbon to the front of the canvas as this will stop you from being able to slot memos and notes behind the ribbon for safe keeping. TIP: Pull your ribbons fairly taut so they hold your memos more securely.
- Staple your next strip of ribbon in the same way leaving roughly 3.5 inches between the first strip and this one.
- Keep stapling your ribbon diagonally until you’ve covered your canvas with ribbon evenly spaced apart.
- Next, staple more ribbon diagonally; this time in the opposite direction from before so you make a charming criss-cross pattern across the whole canvas.
- Glue your buttons into place ensuring each intersection of ribbon has a button decoration. You could also sew the buttons on if you prefer.
And hey presto! You have a homemade notice board completely customised by you!
We hope you have fun making this bright and colourful DIY fabric notice board! Fancy sharing a photo of it when you’re done? Tag us @houseofmahalo so we can see it!
Psst! If you liked making this DIY fabric notice board then you might also like this easy DIY dry erase board project!
Feeling inspired? Share this homemade notice board project on Pinterest!
This board is so cute, would be perfect above my daughter desk !
I’m glad you like it! It makes us smile every time we see it 😀
I love the colors of this board. It is so bright and cheerful. What a fun project!
I’m glad you agree! I loved this fabric so much when I first saw it and I just love that I can look at it from my desk every day now too. Definitely a fun project! 😀