Chalkboard Frenzy

Hard to believe, but we're 3 months away from Little Lady's arrival.  Time really is flying!  I have felt great for the most part and cannot complain.  I continue to crave homemade chocolate chip cookies and really enjoy taking yoga 2x a week.  Lots of projects still to complete for her nursery and I'm looking forward to my upcoming showers (the first one is this weekend and I can't wait)!  With all the "bumpdate" photos I posted on FB recently, I thought I'd share how I created the chalkboard you see in those photos.  I wish I could claim this as "my idea" but let's be honest, the internet and Pinterest are full of ideas these days and it's just a matter of acting on them.

Enjoy!
Emily

Chalkboard How-To:

-STEP 1- Find an old frame, it can be a large picture frame, old painting etc.  Search your local Good Will, Garage Sales, Flea Markets etc for some real gems. Look for something with a flat surface that will be easy to paint over.  The one you see in my photos was from Good Will and used to look like this:

-Step 2-  Choose a spray paint color and go to town spraying the frame....AFTER you have sprayed the frame with a primer of course.  At this point it doesn't matter if you get paint on the lovely picture because you're going to paint that with chalkboard paint later on.  This board hangs in our kitchen so I went with a light blue (Krylon Bonnet Blue).  The frame is 38"x33" and it took 3 coats of spray paint but the can of this color was only 3 ounces.  Using a larger can of spray paint would obviously require less cans.

-Step 3- Paint the surface with chalkboard paint.  I personally chose to use the can kind (Rust-Oleum Specialty 30-oz. Flat Black Chalkboard Paint) and roll this on with a small foam roller.  I had a larger surface area to cover and really felt it covered better than the spray can kind.  I think the spray can kind is better left to smaller chalkboard crafts.  My board took two solid coats and a quick third for good measure.  One thing I don't recommend, magnetic paint.  I tried using magnetic paint underneath the chalkboard paint only to find out the magnets wouldn't stick.  EVEN THOUGH, the can of magnetic paint says you can cover it with any other type of paint.  This personally didn't work for me, but if you have any tricks let me know.

Voila!  Your very own DIY chalkboard vs. buying one in the store for $$$.