Herringbone Bulletin Board

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I was browsing Pinterest for a little dose of crafty inspiration, as usual, and I kept seeing cork projects. Not sure why, but I have so much cork in my craft supply than I know what to do with. So, I decided to do a project that will use some of it up- not to mention this board is super cute. So why do bulletin boards have to be squares and rectangles? Who says? Whoever made up that rule needs a little lesson in DIY. The herringbone pattern is by far one of my favorite patterns and its little chevrons never go out of style. I love its modern look, making it a perfect pattern for my bulletin board.

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For this DIY you’ll need:

2, 12×12 inch cork boards
Craft knife
Ruler
Marker
White acrylic paint (or the color of your choice)
Paintbrush
Spark & Chemistry Note tag PRINTABLES

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To make the herringbone pattern, you’ll need to draw a grid on the cork first. If using 12×12 cork boards, mark every three inches across and draw vertical lines down at those marks.

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Then mark every two inches down and draw horizontal lines at those marks. You now have your grid. If your cork isn’t exactly 12 inches down and across, try to make the spaces as even as possible using your measurements. Next draw diagonals through each rectangle in the grid. In the first and third columns, draw your line from the top left corner to the bottom right corner of the rectangle. In the second and fourth columns, draw your diagonals from the bottom left to the upper right corner. You should now have a just-about perfect chevron pattern. Do this to two cork pieces.

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Next cut out your tiles using the craft knife. Can I just say that this was not my favorite part? My hand started cramping on me, but that’s my own fault. I should’ve switched out my knife blade for easier cutting! Lessons learned.

I know seeing a lot of lines can be confusing; we needed them as a guide to make a perfect pattern. Only cut the vertical lines and the diagonal lines. For fun, you can lay the tiles out in the herringbone pattern afterwards to see how it will look. Almost finished! Or, you can actually be done here if you’d like, but I figure it’s best to cover up those ugly marker lines with a little paint.

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I chose a white acrylic paint as I love the simplicity of the brown cork color and the minimal white together. Paint the tiles however you choose, but to do this style, paint every other tile in the white color and let it dry. It will take about an hour or two. The tiles that aren’t painted, flip on the opposite side for a marker-free look. You may have to do a little rearranging here, and a little trimming for smooth edges, with scissors.

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You’re done! Well, just about. I mounted the tiles with mounting tape which was included, but you can use poster tape, or nails, or you can mount it to a white board first, and then hang the board on the wall all together. But I prefer the free form look, separated from another board.

Also, don’t forget to download our free note tag PRINTABLES, we used in this DIY!