Friday 12 July 2013

DIY: Thrift store frame to mini chalkboard


When I was planning a few things for my sister in law’s baby shower this weekend I decided I wanted to have a mini chalkboard for the ‘wear your guess’ table. I have a mini chalkboard but it is currently hanging from Little Man’s play tent and looks super cute there. 

The options were either go to Typo and buy a new one or make one. Since I already had chalkboard paint all I needed was something to make into a chalkboard. Thrift store frames are so perfect for so many DIY jobs and this was a good one!

I scored this frame for just $5 at my local St Vincent de Paul’s shop. The opening is an 8 x 10 inch photo, perfect for this project.





After a quick clean (and removal of the glass) I used my ‘chalk paint’ mix to cover the frame with two coats of Taubmans flat white (special chalk paint mix by me). For more info about chalk paint see my earlier post HERE.

The particle board backing is a perfect smooth surface to make a chalkboard out of. I took it out and gave it two good coats of black chalkboard paint and set it outside to dry.




Whilst it was drying I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and tutorials of how to do the design bit. I found LOADS of gorgeous fonts but the one I ended up using was Simon Script (available for free at www.dafont.com).

I hand drew what I wanted on a piece of paper and then covered the entire back with chalk from a standard piece of pavement chalk.



I tacked it on to my mini chalkboard using Blu-tack and traced over my design using a pencil. It really worked!



Any imperfections were easily erased using a fine tip paintbrush and water. Perfect!





Here is my finished product. I will add a photo with it styled at the baby shower tomorrow. For now you just get the final product!



Everyone loves a before and after!


xx Tess

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