Union Jack Pin board + Tutorial

I have always had a love of all things British. I grew up on Keeping Up Appearances and BBC movies. My biggest dream was always to visit England and now it is to go back. My little brother is actually living in England at the moment, so what better than a pin board for his photos and my favorite memories?

This craft is simple enough that anybody can do it.
You will need:
A 11×14 flat canvas or cardboard cut to size
a 1/4 yard of blue gingham fabric
2 inch red grosgrain ribbon
1/2 inch red ribbon (I used a ruffle ribbon)
stapler
thumbtacks
fiber fill

The first thing you need to do is decided how you want your canvas to look. Do you want a puffy flag or one that is relatively flat? I have made them both ways and both ways work just fine. The picture above is a flat one and the one below is a puffy one. Keep in mind the puffier it is, the less likely the thumbtacks will stay in place.
Once you have decided if you want your board puffy or not, take the appropriate amount of fiber fill and spread it over your board. If you want a relatively flat board you aren’t going to need much stuffing at all.

Pull your fabric tight around the board and staple it on the back. I ended up fray checking my fabric and then turning it under in a pseudo-hem before stapling it. Staple it all around the back until the fabric is secure.

The first thing you are going to want to do is pull your 1/2 inch ribbon across the canvas diagonally in an X. Staple all the corners on the back. I also put a dab of hot glue on the corners to hold the small ribbon in place but it is probably not necessary.
Take you larger ribbon and make a X on top of the small ribbon. This time not diagonally, but straight across the canvas.

Add thumb tacks at the middle point and one on each side of the large ribbon. This will help keep the ribbon in place and help hold your photos and notes. Make sure to push the pin all the way into the canvas.

I hung my board up on my wall using 3M hanging strips and it has worked perfectly! So tell me are you a British/BBC addict too?