• Drill two holes 4-1/2 to 5-inches apart near the top of the frame in the direction you’l like it to hang (mine is vertical, if you’d like horizontal, drill the holes on a long side).

  Use the largest drill bit you have (unless of corse you’ve got some gigantic size I don’t know about…) and don’t be concerned with the bits that come off the back – just pull them off, because no one will see.

To Cover the Board

• Cut the burlap (or other fabric) about 2-1/2 inches bigger than the board all around.
• Cut the lining fabric about 1-inch larger than the board.
• Lay out your fabric and lining and lay the board face-down on top (#1 photo above). Notch the corners of the lining to lessen the bulk, as shown.
• Start stapling the fabric by bringing it up around the lining and the wood frame of the board in the center of one side. Place about three staples. Move to the other side, pull the fabric tight and staple in the center of that side. Do the other center sides in the same way, pulling tight, before stapling the rest of the way along the sides – pulling tight when needed. Stop about one inch before the corners.
  
• Trim away some of the excess fabric from a corner (photo #2) before tucking the fabric around all the raw edges and pulling tight.
• Secure corners with staples (photo #3). Repeat with remaining corners until all the edges and corners are stapled, as shown.

Create Hanger and Monogram

• Cut a 30-inch piece of 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch ribbon. The Ballard board uses black, so that’s what I went with here, but any color will work (see the version below where I used cream).
  
• Using a large needle with the biggest threading hole you have – I actually used a knitting needle which has a gigantic hole – thread both ends of the ribbon to the front and tie in a knot, leaving 2-inch ends. Notch ends with scissors.
• To create the monogram (optional), print out your desired letter in a font you like (I used Georgia), and cut it out with small scissors. Pin it to the board where you’d like it – centered like the Ballard board, or towards the top like mine – and trace lightly around it with a fine-tipped permanent marker. Remove the pinned letter and fill in the outline with the permanent marker.