Schools Out-Part Two

Okay, so I left off telling you about how much I was inspired to make a large chalkboard for my home.  Muchas gracias, Heather (DIY duJour) and Marian (Miss Mustard Seed)...the pair of you are such an inspiration!

DIY duJour - Vintage Frame Chalkboard

Miss Mustard Seed's STUNNING chalkboard

So I found this pretty (and a bit overpriced, but too cool to pass up) vintage, gold leaf mirror at one of my fav thrift shops and immediately visualized it as the perfect chalkboard.

Although you CAN paint right over the glass when making a chalkboard, I chose not to in this case.  I wanted a sturdier material, so I picked out a sheet of wood composite (1/4th of an inch in width) at Lowes ($4), and they cut it to size right there for me! Thank you Sherrie at Lowes! I try to stay away from power tools at all costs...yikes! I then painted the board four even coats of chalkboard paint and set it aside to dry.


Back to my BEEEA-UTIFUL frame...I removed the makeshift backing from the mirror.  Holy nails! I must have removed twenty nails holding the glass to the frame, along with a couple sheets of poster board...wow, can you say JERRY RIGGED!

After removing the nails, poster board, and glass, I popped in the freshly painted (but now dry) board and used special little push tacks (also purchased at Lowes) to hold it in the frame.  The tacks were easy to push into the wood frame using a flat head screwdriver.  A little more professional looking than 15 thousand nails! LOL!

 

The last step in this easy peasy project was "seasoning" the chalkboard.  I learned this great tip from Heather.  If you don't take a piece of chalk and rub it sideways across the "virgin" chalkboard then it will leave a permanent imprint of whatever you wrote.

 

I found a perfect spot in our dining room for this fancy little chalkboard...and because I love a montage I thought I could add a piece of art and wooden letter for visual interest.

Remember that 'M' from my junk pile? I finally got around to painting and staining it...and the star went bye-bye! So sad...not really, it was pretty cheesy!