Love the bulletin board idea!
The easel for me would take up space that I don't have.
What I have is an old door on hinges - sideways on the wall so I can flip it up. When it's down it rests on my son's air hockey table. When it's up, the outer surface is a layer of styrofoam with pillow ticking on it * I use pins to put things up.
When it's down, I have an ironing surface of two layers of batting covered with pillow ticking.