Has anyone made a felt board before?

[ggma]

I remember having one as a kid and loved it, so I want to make one for ds. My mom can't remember what fabric she used for the "background." She thinks it was flannel... Anybody second this? Thanks a bunch, ggma.

[amey]

Why not use felt as the background? You can get both acrylic and wool blend felts in yardages at Joann's and similar places.

~amey

[Kari_mom]

You can use felt or flannel. I used spray adhesive to attach felt to hardboard cut to size, trimmed it around the edges, then screwed it to the wall in my son's room. Not hard at all. Just think about how you want to use it and go from there.

[ggma]

thanks ladies! I am planning a stop at Joann's next week and we'll see what they have for me... I like the idea of screwing the board to the wall for ds - I hadn't thought of that. Hmmm. It sounds so easy I might just have to make more than one while I'm at it.

[rainbowmoon]

I made ds a feltboard recently using these directions and it came out great!
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel1396

I used flannel for the actual board and used an old bulletin board w/ a frame instead of an actual frame (just hot glued the flannel right to the cork) it was simple and cost me nothing as I had the supplies on hand! :thumb

[arooo]

Hi....

I haven't posted in here for a while, but I started lurking this morning and here was a felt board conversation!

I've always wondered if I could get flannel prints of different kinds... like the ones that have abstract environmental designs (like leaves and water) and do a really simple background that has a little more texture/interest to it than just a flat color (not that that doesn't totally foster lil imaginations!). For example, an "underwater" board with sand fabric at the bottom, and then different shades of blue going up....

It would involve a little sewing, but nothing difficult... has anyone tried it?

[ggma]

Haven't tried this - but I've been thinking about getting a water themed flannel if it exists... then cutting out sand bottom from the felt. I like this idea but am thinking that I might want something more versatile for the background to start with. I guess we'll see what kind of fabric is available and how it moves me!

[amey]

If were making a flannel board meant for outside types of storyboarding, I'd probably cover the whole thing in blue. Blue can be underwater, it can be sky outside, etc...

Then you could cut out a grass piece, a sand piece, rocks, etc to be the ground level for the picture.

A teacher I worked with when I was teaching preschool made an amazing felt board collection using A House for Hermit Crab as the focus - she had hermit crab in various sizes, all the creatures he adds to his house, etc. It got a lot of use. I guess that's sort of an aside, but thinking about how you envision it being used can help shape what you do with it.

Also: you should be able to paint or draw on the felt itself either with fabric paints or permanent markers.

~amey

[arooo]

Fabric paint... now there's a thought. I've entertained the thought of doing a giant tree background....

Now, I should probably just search the board, but anyone got tips on the best ways to come up with the little felts to stick on there... I don't mean ideas so much as the actual pieces... there are so many different ways... what's worked best?

(Kari-mom... every time I sneak into a discussion you are there with awesome ideas. You rock!)

[ggma]

Oooh... an idea just sparked! I'm planning on creating a board that can be carried and moved etc. I was pondering over the frame and bulletin board ideas, but I think I'll just use a thin piece of wood and cover both sides with a different color background. Blue for both water/sky... and maybe I'll let ds pick out his own fabric for the other side! Fun, fun, fun. Thanks so much all for joining in - I feel rather inspired to get at this project this week.

[amysuen]

Taking it a step further... for items to go on your felt board you can use sew-in interfacing (or milk filters- can you tell I'm in WI?:LOL). You can color it with colored pencils, or cut to fit your inkjet printer and print pics on. :D

[Kari_mom]

We've recycled puzzle pieces for our felt board by putting small pieces of hook velcro on the back. In addition to felt cutouts, a few interfacing pieces, commercial sets...

The idea to have larger pieces for backgrounds is neat.

Arooo, thanks! :shy

[GruppieGirl]

I made one in my college dorm room, so it was super easy.

Take a peice of plywood. Staple some dark green felt to it. Screw a handle onto the back for easy carrying.

Voila!

:)

[JenniferC]

Do these boards also work with magic wool/fairy fleece/rovoing when they are made from flannel? I remember having a religious one in Sunday school of flannel, but they only used felt pieces on it.