DIY Chalkboard

I had some left over fiberboard (apparently plywood is not the correct term) from a coffee table project. I had always wanted to create a chalkboard to see if chalkboard paint is all that it is cracked up to be. It is.

Here is what you need:

•  Surface to paint (mine is fiberboard)
• Chalkboard paint (Bought at Home Depot)
• Paint Brush
• Newspaper to protect the dining table

According to the paint instructions, two coats are needed with a 30 minute drying period between each coat. Paint the chalk board paint on like you would any other paint except make sure your lines are long, covering the whole surface in one swipe. After the first coat:

Of course Dante (my dog) had to include his two cents by shedding, luckily I was able to remove it before the first coat dried!

 Due to the board, it soaked the paint up like sponge, so I ended up having to do a third coat. So lesson learned, if using fiberboard, more coats will be needed. After the second and third coats:

 Also according to the instructions, once the two coats have been painted, it should be left alone for three days, however I'm an impatient person and drew on it the next day and it seemed fine to me.

I wanted to add a boarder to the chalkboard since the way it was seemed incredibly drab. My parents had some left over tile from their bathroom remodel. I really hope they didn't need it for anything, because for a lack of a better word, I stole it.

 I cut the tiles apart into their single form, with scissors, in order to make the framing for the chalkboard.

Here I made a huge mistake! Hindsight is 20/20, right? I didn't space the tiles out first before hot gluing them to the chalkboard. I know I'm an awful person. The tiles ended up uneven on two sides and were hanging off too much on one side. There were huge gaps between edges of tiles.

 However, luck was on my side when I was able to knock off the tiles with a flat screwdriver and hammer without tearing off any of the paint. For the second time of applying tiles, I did space them out first. The boy, Bryan, drilled a shallow hole into the back of the fiberboard so it could be hung easily on a nail.

Completed project:

I added a cheesy quote, one because Bryan would hate it and two, the chalkboard is now hanging in our bedroom. Lesson learned, spacing tiles before hand really does complete the project!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Winnie the Pooh

I found white and colored chalk on sale at Micheal's, all Crayola products were 50% OFF!! To clear the chalkboard, a damp paper towel works perfectly!