For any of you that have a flannel board and enjoy making story and play sets to go on it I’ve got a little tip for you.

Buy 15 inch circle non-gauze milk filters, a box of 100 costs about $15 including shipping. You can get them here.

Trim them to 8.5×11 inches.

I use my quilting square and a sharpie to make my rectangle

Then cut them out. I usually hold 2 or 3 together and cut them all out at the same time, or use my rotary cutter to cut through several sheets at once.

Run them through your printer.

Cut out the pieces. They stick right to flannel, felt, fleece, and each other!

I got these awesome printable shapes from MrPrintables.com, you can download your own here.

I have also printed out just the outline and then colored it in with crayons, colored pencils, and markers, they all work really well.

These are thin for easy storage, and they are super durable. I have made several sets for my girls and they play with them a lot, I have yet to have one of them tear.

I’ve been wanting to make a flannel board for my girls for a few months now, but I was having a hard time deciding how I was going to do it. I started doing some research and found lots of different methods – you can glue the flannel to cardboard, foam display boards, plywood, pretty much anything with a flat surface.

I originally saw this idea on the blog Oopsey Daisy, which no longer appears to be active. She shared how she made a flannel board on the back of a magnetic dry erase board, creating 3 activities in one. Making good use of our limited space seemed like a great idea to me. I had a hard time deciding what size board to use, and then finding one that I liked. I wanted something with rounded corners that was large enough for storytelling and small enough to tuck away when not in use. I found the perfect board on clearnence at Walmart. I grabbed some light blue flannel and got started as soon as I got home. This was a fast project, start to finish it took me about half an hour.

Since the original tutorial is missing, I’ll try to give you a quick summary of what I did. The back of the board was not flush with the frame, it had a raised edge that was not going to work well with what I wanted. I found some extra cardboard, cut it to the same size as the board and attached it to the back of the dry erase board to make a flat surface that was even with the edge of the frame, then I stretched the flannel over the board and used a hot glue gun to secure the edges. One thing that I wish I had done differently is I wish I had folded the edges over a little and then secured them so that the cut edge of the fabric is tucked under. I left the raw edges of the fabric exposed and they are starting to fray a little, not a problem, just not very pretty.

This is what my finished product looks like:

As you can see, I chose to use a light blue flannel, I feel that it’s a good neutral color.

And this is the dry erase board side. This board is 23″x17″. I originally wanted to buy one that was about twice this size, and I’m so glad that I didn’t. This board is the perfect size, doesn’t take up too much room and is completely portable. I’ve already made a couple of stories for it, based on two of our favorite books, and it’s a big hit! My girls beg for me to tell them stories on the flannel board, and they have the stories nearly memorized. Sometimes when they are playing I hear them retelling the stories to each other or their toys. I love that.

Post updated on January 15, 2026