The Chalk Board Project

Walking though the craft department at Walmart (if you can call it that) i stumbled upon blackboard paint. This paint is unlike ordinary paint. It can be applied to many surfaces and once dry you can actually write on it with chalk. Ive wanted to do something with it since the day i saw it, i just never had the canvass to let my creativity take over.

It wasn't until i moved into my new apartment when i found the perfect canvass bring this craft to fruition! The lucky spot was a small wall in my breakfast nook that needed something to make all the white walls a little less blah!

The first part of my artistic process is to come up with the idea (already established) and then figure out how i am going to make it come true. The second part (my favorite!) is going to your local craft store or hardware store to look for materials. Now i couldn't just paint a big blob on the wall and let it be it, i wanted to create something to encompass the paint so that it was chalkboardesque'. A Frame. Where was i going to find a frame big enough (and in my budget) to do the job. I searched craigslist for old art work with nice frames but none of them met my imagination. Next i looked in art stores. Custom framing is extremely expensive so that was out the question and none of the frames the stores had were the right size.

This is when i determined i would have to build a custom frame myself. Now I've worked with wood before but nothing on this scale so i waited for my dad, Phil, to come to town. I figured he loves home depot so this would be great bonding for us, plus he knows how to cut angles with a saw. I also brought along my mom, Mama Donna, who shares my creative process. So off to home depot we went with my idea in mind. I didn't want to create the frame with just boring wood. I wanted something with a little flare so we went to the lumber section and found the crown molding.

There is something you should know about me. I am indecisive. I mean VERY indecisive. We probably spent just 30-45 minutes staring at the different molding before i narrowed it down to a few i liked. The piece i wanted was perfect but to thin and the the other one to pricey. What was i gonna do..? Then Phil came to the rescue. Being artsy in his own way (more manly crafting), he suggest i buy a plain piece of wood and layer the two pieces so that together it would be perfect in thickness. Phil helped cut the wood and off we went to start the my third favorite part (the crafting!).

After selecting the wood and buying the supplies to mount and paint i had only spent 20 dollars. Pretty inexpensive chalkboard if you ask me. The next process would be to paint the wood. The color pallet we have in the apartment is mainly white with black and yellow accents (the couch) so i wanted to draw in the yellow with out having a piss colored frame on the wall. I couldn't paint it white because it would blend in with the wall and I couldn't paint black because it would blend in with the chalkboard paint. So i ended up going with yellow and black.  Now the wood i bought was what i would call "engraved" with pretty swirls (my selling point) so i wanted to do an antique finish so that they would stand out.

To antique all you need to do is paint your base color that you want to show through and then paint over with your second color lightly while wiping away extra paint to give an old world look. Here is what the decorative wood looked liked while painting.

Then you paint the second piece which ever color you choose (i choose yellow to break up the black of the chalkboard and the frame.

Next you use brads to nail them together to get the finished frame look.

Next you line them up on the wall and use a level to make sure its all even. Outline the inside of the frame and paint the wall using the chalkboard paint. I used 2 coats, but read the directions on the container and follow suite. The edges don't need to be perfect because the frame will cover them.

Next you nail the sides over the edges of the board and get your finished frame.

Now you may notice i under measured a little on the top (i just haven't had the time to get more paint) but this is what the final project looks like. Buy chalk and an eraser and let the fun begin!

I love this project because not only was it fun but it allows my friends to leave messages when they visit. A few weeks after while watching home and garden, they used the paint to decorate a space. Now im not saying i am a trend setter, because there is no way HGTV got the idea from me HAHA but i definitely see this catching on soon.

Go out and buy some paint (under 5 dollars at Walmart) and paint something fun!