Chalkboard Tutorial

I am finally beginning to get a better feel for my crafty side. (I knew it was deep down there somewhere...) It is a small crafty side, but heck, I'll take a small one over no crafty side at all.

So this weekend I was looking on Etsy at chalkboards. Pretty much any board bigger than a picture frame was $75-$200!!  That is cray-cray, right?  So, I decided to make my own and the final product was... wait for it... wait for it... A WHOPPING $60. (For the size I made mine, they were ~$175-$200 on Etsy!) I know that's still quite a bit, but I still have a lot of left over paint for more crafts (possibly chalkboards I can put up on Etsy and charge for $200), and I get the satisfaction of enjoying the chalkboard that I made EVERY DAY! 

For those of you that are interested in making your own, here are a few tips:

Make sure to pick a picture frame with a solid wood frame and a wood backing.  You can either use spray paint or can paint.  I started with spray paint, but ended up going over it all with can paint. I think that the can chalkboard paint is much thicker and will work better with the chalk.  

Here are a few pictures (and a little movie) to help guide you:

Here is the paint line-up. Like I said, I started with the spray paint, but ended up using the can paint afterwards (which I think works and looks MUCH BETTER).  Moral of story, I would highly recommend starting with can paint so that you don't waste your money on the spray paint... unless you want to just use spray paint.)

Please don't pay attention to my alien pale skin.

My lovely husband helped with the spray painting! :) 

I then did all of this over again with can paint and forgot to take pictures! haha

AND VOILA!

CLOSE UP:

I'm supposed to allow three days for the chalkboard paint to set (it dries in 30 minutes). As soon as it sets and I have it up, I will post an update with how well the chalk writes! :) 

GOOD LUCK!