Getting organized in style!

Although I've been working on my novel for some months now, I decided recently that I wanted a way to get a little better organized visually.  I have an outline, but I wanted a visual stimulus to help keep me focused and organized, so I decided to put a bulletin board over my desk.  The idea was to post the images I've been collecting (representations of my characters as well as intended book covers), notes with details I don't want to forget, and that sort of thing.

I looked for a bulletin board at Target, but the cheap, plain ones are so hideous, I couldn't bring myself to even think of hanging on in my pretty little office.  Instead, I thought of buying a custom one, one covered in fabric.  I checked on Etsy, and there were tons of them, but none were quite what I wanted.  I did get some good ideas, though, so I went looking for instructions for making my own, and found this: Fabric Covered Cork Board Frame Tutorial.

Making one myself looked easy enough, so I shopped on eBay until I found a frame I liked: big enough, inexpensive enough, but still vintage.  Then I browsed Hobby Lobby's site, found a few fabrics I liked, and took the frame in with me to make sure I got one that went well with the frame.  Add a roll of cork, some hot glue, a staple gun, and a felt backing, and I had this:



It didn't take me long to make, and it's a much better look than a plain cork board, don't you think?  Choosing my frame and fabric based on looks instead of price caused it to cost just as much as some of the cheaper ones on Etsy, but it's what I really wanted, so I don't mind a bit!