Unique Chalkboard Ideas

My second community night class was all about chalkboards. We were suppose to repurpose a cupboard door into a chalkboard. However, there wasn’t enough interest, so the class was cancelled. Sad.but.true.

So, I’m going to show you some of the unexpected chalkboard items I was going to share with the class—you know I LOVE a good chalkboard project!

I recently picked up another plastic dresser mirror. I never pass one of these up—well that’s not exactly true. I did pass on one that was $30!

The last two plastic mirrors were given a makeover, but I left them mirrors. I wanted to change this one up—so a fun, colorful, chalkboard was definitely in order.

After removing the mirror, I sprayed the plastic frame with DIY chalk paint. I had a marathon day of spray painting with my HomeRight Finish Max.

 

Then one gloomy/rainy day I decided to give this plastic frame some color—by hand! I totally regretted that. I should have waited and used the Finish Max. It was very difficult to get into all the crevices by hand. The color is a Valspar sample, Starry Night.

 

I’ve used this Chalkboard paint for years… but recently I figured out I was doing it all wrong. After using some Spray Chalkboard Paint—and seeing the great surface it creates, I worked hard at getting that same result with the brush on chalkboard paint. I’ve always used a foam brush, but now I sort of use the whole surface of the foam, not just the wedged end. I did  4 light coats on this board, always going north to south. It dries really quickly, so I did all the coats in one day.

 

You can see that it creates a very smooth surface on this thin plywood.

 

The cardboard backing on the mirror was in rough shape.

 

I hit it with some spray paint.

 

 

This is the frame before I put it back together.

 

I placed the new chalkboard in the frame and used some bubble wrap to make it have a tight fit.

 

I somehow LOST the screws that I took out originally. go.figure. So, I added new screws and two d-rings for hanging.

 

I rushed to get it done so I could take it to the class (that was cancelled). I may end up doing a dark wax/wash on it before the huge show at Glendale.

 

Here is another unique and unexpected chalkboard. I bought a couple of t.v. cabinets. You can see them in the top right picture. See the green arrow? This little plastic piece was part of the t.v. console, I’m guessing where the channels and other buttons were located. Top left, I have cleaned it up and sanded it lightly. Bottom left, I spray painted it with some primer. Bottom right, I used Brick spray paint from Krylon.

 

I painted two scrap pieces of wood with chalkboard paint on one side and some of the Brick spray paint on the back. The larger piece was able to be secured with screws into the original holes. I secured the smaller piece with my good ole trusty Gorilla Glue Super Glue.

I hammered in a saw tooth hanger for hanging. It looks off center. I’m not saying it isn’t, but not to the degree that it looks like it is.

This chalkboard was fun and easy to make from a piece that most people would have thrown away.

 

I don’t have pictures of this chalkboard in progress. It’s a standard plastic frame painted with ASCP Aubusson Blue, and waxed with Johnson’s Paste Wax. I sanded the rope detail slightly.

 

This was a very easy chalkboard project. I used chalkboard paint on the cover of this vintage book. I can see this used in many ways, the possibilities are endless.

 

I did this mockup with picmonkey. This chalkboard book would be great to use at a wedding.

gail

See other great chalkboard ideas here:
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see more picture frame ideas here:

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