DIY Framed Chalkboard

I finally finished a project that has been long in the making.

Over a year ago, my sister-in-law purchased a beautiful red, distressed framed chalkboard. She hung it in her kitchen and wrote a Bible verse on it. I have loved that chalkboard ever since.

Fast forward to a year later when I, hugely pregnant, wandered into a Habitat Restore in town. I saw some old kitchen cabinet doors, which looked vaguely familiar. Then, I realized that they were the same shape as the framed chalkboard at my sis-in-law’s house. I knew I could DIY something with them.

At $3.50 a pop, I couldn’t resist buying two of them. Score!

Then, they sat. Boo.

I was working full-time, pregnant, and then to top it all off we bought a house. Free time was a luxury.

As I dreamed about our new home I decided a framed chalkboard was just what our new kitchen needed and that the cabinet doors I had purchased would be perfect for the project. When we finally moved in and I was banned from the indoors due to heavy lifting and painting, I donned a breathing mask and tackled this project!

I purchased a can of chalkboard spray paint and spray paint in the colors I liked from Home Depot.

I taped off the frame of the cabinets and sprayed the chalkboard paint on.

Once I had a few coats on and the paint had dried, I removed the tape and covered the chalkboard portions so that I could paint the edges. Tape carefully or you may get some overspray.

That was it! I actually ended up hand painting the frame of the yellow chalkboard to a dark grey that we had leftover from a paint sample ($2.50). However, this happened post-baby. Yes, I really dragged this project out!

My mother received the smoky blue chalkboard for mother’s day and after adding a picture frame bracket to the back of our grey chalkboard it can be found hanging happily on our kitchen wall.

The chalkboard pens can be found at Michael’s or any craft store. They come in all sorts of lovely colors, but I liked the crisp white.

Oh, and let me tell you a secret about the handwritten verse. I actually stole this idea from my brother.

I simply opened a word document, typed the verse I wanted in a cool font and then used the document as a template to mimic! I don’t naturally have such adorable handwriting, trust me!

So, there you have it. It took me long enough, but the end result was worth the wait. I am so glad that I finally tackled this project!

{What projects are you working on?  Any great Habitat Restore or Thrift store finds?}

 Jenny is a full-time wife and mommy of one sweet baby girl and a part-time teacher. She lives in California where she enjoys the sunshine as much as possible while working hard to make her house a joyful home for the family that God has blessed her with. Jenny enjoys cooking, hiking, reading, creating products for her online shop The Sweet Stuff Shop, and blogging about her everyday life at The Sweet Stuff.

Find her on her blog, and facebook