DIY Chalkboard Frame and Lettering

I feel like chalkboards have recently made a comeback, but not in the traditional sense. Lately on Pinterest I see tons of pins about DIY chalkboards for events and for the home. I always liked the idea and finally decided to make one for myself. I thought now was a great time to make one for my apartment so that I could decorate it for the upcoming holidays. Overall it was a simple and fun process and I’m happy with the end result.

 

What you need:

·         Large picture frame of your choice
·         Glass chalkboard paint
·         Spray paint for frame
·         Chalk
·         Printed lettering (optional)

 First step I removed the glass from the frame (fun fact I actually broke the glass on my first frame and had to go buy another, so be careful) Then I spray painted the frame gold, you don’t have to do this if you like the look of your frame I just bought a basic one and wanted to make it a little fancier.

 

Next paint the chalkboard paint directly onto the glass from the frame. I ended up having to do about three coats to make sure none of the glass showed through. My suggestion would be to use a roller to paint it on rather than a brush like I did to avoid striping.

 

Once the paint is dry it’s time for the fun part, decorating with your message.  I was always curious about how all these people had such flawless handwriting on these chalkboards, thinking there was no way I could pull that off. Then I found a tutorial that showed an easy was to transfer words and designs onto the chalkboard. You start by printing off your desired lettering off the computer. You then coat the back of the lettering in chalk, a lot of it. I then cut out the wording and taped it to the chalkboard. Next take a pencil and trace the lettering from the print out. When you remove the paper the chalk should’ve transferred where you traced, like this.

 

Then you just go over it with another coat of chalk and clean up the edges. I found that a wet Qtip worked perfectly for cleaning up that extra chalk dust around the letters.

 

I did the same steps for each word and for a clip art picture of a leaf. I then put the glass back in the frame and there you have it a fun fall themed chalkboard for the season. I look forward to updating it again at Christmas time.