Things Change—Old Frames to Chalkboards

I’ve been admiring chalk boards all over the internet for the past few months…it seems everyone has got a chalkboard.  So, just in time for new fall schedules and back to school, I made a few of my own, and created a chalkboard wall.

This was a super easy and inexpensive project that I made with things I had laying around the house…and garage (I’m realizing I have way to many things laying around the house and garage!). 

Supplies:


Old art frames with art, backing, and glass removed…






A piece of thin veneer that was left over from an old Ikea project…




A good quality quart of primer and a sponge roller…




A good quality quart of chalkboard paint from Lowe's…



The Process:
No photos here, but pretty self-explanatory.

1.    Painting:  I spray painted all of the frames with a high-gloss white and rolled the primer onto the entire surface of the veneer.  After that was dry, I rolled two coats of chalkboard paint onto the veneer.

2.    Cutting:  The next day I measured the inside of the frames, where the chalkboards would rest, and cut the veneer to match the measurements.  I used a small hack saw.

3.   Finishing:  After cutting, I lightly sanded the edges of each board and then rolled on one more coat of paint.  After the paint was dry, I glued each board into the matching frame. 

4.   Hanging:  While the glue dried, I traced the frames onto some newspaper, cut it out, and used the newspaper templates to decide on my chalkboard arrangement.  I had a hard time making it work until I decided to put the clock on one of the chalkboards instead of above it.  Then, I very nicely asked my handy husband to hang them up according to the templates…and he did because that is the kind of guy he is.














Although, I love the look of one very large chalk board, I like the organization of the smaller boards.  Each of the girls have a board where I write their daily schedule and chores and little notes.  The largest board is our monthly calendar, and the lowest boards are just for fun.

My Favorite Part:  upcycling some of my junk, the clockboard,  graffiti with a purpose.