Morning everybody! We’re in the middle of our first snowfall of the year here in Northwest Arkansas, and I’m loving it! Right now about half of the grass in our yard is covered and the snow’s still slowly coming down. We don’t expect anything like the 20+ inches of snow we had in February last year, but I’ll take snow any way we can get it!
Today I wanted to share a chalkboard I made just in time for the holidays. I’ve been wanting to make my own chalkboard for a long time. I guess it was a combination of cost and laziness that has kept me from making one, but the other night I realized I already had all the supplies around the house.
It started with this huge frame I had leftover from our wedding. We’re not ones to hang huge (like 2′ x 3′) portraits of ourselves in our home, so after we used this bridal portrait of mine at our wedding reception, we really didn’t know what to do with it.
I thought I could preserve the frame to use later on, but somewhere along the line the glass was broken and the photo was scratched. Printing a new photo and getting new glass cut was going to be too expensive, so this frame has lived under our guest bed for the past 3 years.
In a moment of inspiration, it dawned on me. Chalkboards can be big. Chalkboards don’t need glass. There was already a nice smooth board being used as the frame’s backing. This frame was going to become a chalkboard!
I had a can of chalkboard paint in our paint stash that had never been opened (intended for another project). I kind of broke the rules when I applied the paint but I was impatient and wanted to get this baby done! The can said to apply the paint between 50-80 degrees, to make sure you apply it with good ventilation, and to wait 6 hours between coats and 24 hours before first use.
I applied the first coat in the house (sorry for the fumes, Stephen) and the second about 4 hours later in our garage (where the temp was definitely NOT 50 degrees). I let the board dry overnight and got right to work the next morning. It could have been a disaster, but it actually turned out fine!
The next step if you’ve ever used chalkboard paint is to condition the board. You do this by rubbing the long side of a piece of chalk all over the surface of the board.
Then, using a felt eraser (or just a piece of felt!), you wipe off the chalk till you get a nice smooth finish.
Conditioning the board like this makes erasing future designs a lot easier.
After that, I just popped the board back in my frame!
The design I drew on my chalkboard was 100% inspired by this one I found (and pinned) via the blog Hope Heals.
I loved the design they used so much, I pretty much just replicated it and changed the phrase. What do you think?
Since our living room got taken over by our Christmas tree, we had to do some rearranging. Our little leather loveseat and two slipper chairs ended up on the back wall of the room. We really needed some art above the loveseat, and the chalkboard works perfectly!
I can’t hide that peacock pillow away in our guest room for long. I love it and want to stare at it all day long!
I picked up that globe at a thrift store for $5. The colors are almost identical to the ones in our leafy curtains.
So what do you think of our new chalkboard? Have you ever experimented with chalkboard paint before?
I’ve got to say, I’m pretty much addicted to drawing on ours now! Hmm… what else can I turn into a chalkboard?
Thanks for reading!
Linking up:
Pinterest-a-thon at Inspired Honey Bee
