Most things you get at the dollar store are not huge. If you’re only paying a buck, things can only be so large. One way to get bigger impact is to combine small pieces into a larger one (kind of like Heather did a My Frugal Family with this mind-blowing art piece – click to see it). When I wanted to approximate this PB rustic wall organizer, I knew I could do most of it with dollar store stuff, but I needed a larger bulletin board than I could find at the dollar store.

[inspiration image: pottery barn]

Project Materials:

• Six bulletin boards, $1
• Stencils (cut your own), on hand
• Acrylic paint, on hand or $.50
• Sash rod (optional), about $1.50 each – comes in a package of 2
• Glue or duct tape to attach the frames, on hand

Total: $6 and up

To make a big bulletin board, I bought six of the small framed bulletin boards I found in the office supplies section of the dollar store and attached them. I was going to glue the frames together with wood glue, but my partner in crime suggested that duct tape would be far easier, less messy, and would probably hold up just as well, so I did that instead. We duct taped all the frames together on the back of the piece, along each seam.

Before I attached the frames together, though, I added a couple of stencils, inspired by the PB example. (Click here to download these stencils and click here to learn how to stencil). You could stencil some burlap and attach it to the bulletin boards for an even more rustic look.

After the bulletin boards were attached, I installed a sash rod (to hold my placemat mail sorter). I pre-drilled holes in the bulletin board (because the frames are made of plastic and I thought the nails would split the frames), and then hammered in the sash rod hardware. True confession: this was the first time I used the drill, and it was so much less intimidating than I always thought it would be!

The PB rustic wall organizer is a lot bigger than my dollar store version, but you could easily add a few more dollar store bulletin boards. Of course, if you think you’re gonna spend $10 at the dollar store on bulletin boards, you might be better off making your own big bulletin board.

p.s. Here’s another way to put your bulletin boards together to get bigger impact.