Chalkboard paint project

My daughter bought a super cute sign for her kitchen.  It was made out of an old cabinet door and they painted the inside with chalkboard paint.  Then they took some fun colored chalks and drew a few very pleasing-looking cupcakes--especially compared to mine!  I thought this sign was so charming it got me thinking about a chalkboard paint project.  I have been wanting to work with this paint for a while now, but I was unsure of how to I could use it.  Since seeing her cute sign I have been thinking of all sorts of projects to make with it.


Recently, I had gone to a local thrift store and picked up a few wooden pieces to that I wanted to remake.  An old towel rack, an old tea shelf and a (new) wooden clock set.  I spent .75 cents each on the three separate pieces for a total of $2.25.  When I showed the pieces to my daughter she couldn't even imagine why I had bought them, but I thought they all had great potential.  :)  So when she brought her charming little sign home, I knew I could use the chalkboard paint on one or more of these wooden finds.  My first casualty was the clock set, which by the way, I never had any intention of turning into a clock. 

I bought the Valspar Chalkboard paint at Lowes for less then $14.00 (a great deal since it will be used on many future projects) and the other paint was pulled from my shed.  I decided to make the outside frame look a little weathered, so I pulled out my crackled paint left over from another project. 

The chalkboard paint for the insert.

The crackle paint for the outside frame.

The outside frame, prior to painting.

The outside frame spray painted black.

The outside frame with a coat of crackle paint.

The outside frame with the second color of paint.

The middle insert after painting with the chalkboard paint.

Allow everything to dry.  Glue the insert into the outside frame with wood glue. The two piece reassembled.

Then grab yourself some colorful chalk, vinyl lettering, 

a little bit of ribbon and some wire to make a hanger and...

here's the finished project.