The Process

Bulletin boards might be the bane of my existence.

Tip 1: Measure Twice...

Make sure you buy fabric in the correct size:

I thought I snagged a twin sheet at Goodwill, but it appears I bought a table cloth.  Oops.  Luckily I'm only out a few dollars (and hopefully my mom can reuse the fabric for some quilts).

Tip 2: Teamwork 

It's just easier this way.

Tip 3:

Use fabric.  It's more expensive, but doesn't fade.  I was able to grab some inexpensive fabric (under $10 for three yards) for attempt two.

I used green mesh (Joann's clearance center) to make the border.

To make the cacti arms, I cut up manila folders and wrapped them with mesh.

I attempted to create a quasi-envelope layer and stuff mesh inside, but it was time consuming and only moderately successful.  I eventually switched to just stapling mesh right to the wall to cover the manila folder. 

I added pipe cleaner spikes and the tops of fake flower bouquets to make my cacti bloom.

I decided both sides of the bulletin board needed traditional cactus arms, so I repeated the process.

I bought pastel colored card stock and printed mini cacti to glue on clips.  

 

It's on our first day plan to color these and write their names on the potted portion.  I'll then laminate and attach to the board.

I snagged these precut banners and stickers at Target:

It's slowly been a work in progress.  The banner will say "Our class is SHARP!" when I'm done.  My goal is to finish it today, but we will see if that actually happens.

Not pictured: The cats aggressively smelling everything and knocking glue sticks on the floor.

I'll be finalizing my bulletin board by Friday, so stay tuned.