Chalkboards from Cabinet Doors

I've been asked how I painted these to get the distressed finish. I didn't take step by step pictures because I was super busy making Christmas gifts-too busy to blog. I went to Restore (the Habitat for Humanity thrift store) and bought a couple of plain, unfinished solid wood cabinet doors that were dying for a makeover. I'm kind of picky when it comes to the framing that I like. These were each only $5. The metal pieces you see on each side were in the drawer knob aisle, just random metal parts. Some were $0.10, others were $1. They were ugly metal, but I spray painted them black and then took some sandpaper to the edges to age them a bit.I used a paint called Green River for this one. I LOVE this color! It looks lighter in the picture because it was FREEZING outside and it fogged up my camera. ;)
After I painted the color, about 3 coats, I painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint in the center. I let it all dry overnight and then roughed up the edges with sandpaper. Then I took a bit of Valspar's antiquing glaze and wiped it quickly on and off the painted areas. You only do one side at a time, because you want to remove most of it before it gets soaked up. You're just looking to age it a bit, not turn the whole thing black.
After that, I added my metal pieces and the upside down drawer pull to hold the chalk, using Amazing E6000 glue. Keep it flat so that the pieces don't slide and let it dry overnight.
I am totally in LOVE with these, I keep searching for more materials each time I check out Restore. You never know what they'll have since it's all donated.

Framed Chalkboards

I'm going to do something different and show you the "after" pictures first, then the "before". I didn't take pictures of the steps, but it's SO simple! For this one with a canvas painting, I simply painted over it with 4-5 coats of chalkboard paint, letting it dry in between coats. Since this is only going to be used for decor, not a functional everyday use, I don't mind that it's canvas instead of a hard board. Here is the next set. On this one, I cut off the brown paper backing and bent back the big staples holding the print and glass inside. I threw away the glass and since this board was completely smooth, I used it to paint the chalkboard on directly. I spray painted the frame Heirloom White. I am SO tempted to paint a red frame, but since these are my first large chalkboards, I wanted ones that could match more parties.

There you go... super easy and inexpensive! One little jar of chalkboard paint has lasted me over a year, from my first chalkboards!

Oval Chalkboard Frame

The oval frame was $1 at Rescued Treasures. I took out the ugly picture and gave it three coats of chalkboard paint that I already had from previous projects. There was a bubbled piece of plastic instead of glass on this frame, so I just removed it. I painted it Heirloom White with about 4 coats of spray paint. I simply inserted the chalkboard back into the frame and since The backing of this frame wasn't going to told it firmly in place, I hot glued it into the frame permanently.I can hang it vertically or horizontally. I am going to hang it as the top picture shows, near my craft station so I can jot down supplies as I run out of them.

This is a smaller version of my first chalkboard project... and it only cost me a buck!

Classroom additions

Here is yet another chalkboard project that I quickly made. I needed something to hold paper clips and binder clips on my table.I saw this small white pot on clearance at Target and thought it would be perfect.I used some scrap pieces of vinyl (or you could use tape) to mark off the area you want to paint.

This is the paint I used, from JoAnns.

Here is the finished product.

I saw this flower idea on a blog post about back to school and got these letters for $1 at Wal Mart.

These are the binders I made for the girls, we are so excited to get started!

Inside I divided them by weekdays and put the work we'll need for that day in that pocket. It warmed my heart when I opened Emma's materials and her first book was "Caps for Sale". Emma's kinder teacher read this to them last year on a day I was volunteering. Emma was excited too because she remembered the book.

My 10 cents...

My second chalkboard of the day came from an ornate metal frame that I bought for 10 cents at a yard sale. I've had it for a couple of months, it came with no glass, no backing- so I didn't know WHAT I was gonna do with it, I just knew I liked it! Fast forward to today and my almost-full jar of chalkboard paint leftover from the oval chalkboard. Iused the same method for this one, craft knife to cut thick cardboard, 3 coats of paint.

Turned out really cute! And to think that dime could just be wasting away at the bottom of my purse!

Chalkboard from junk...

I saw a really cute post yesterday, click on the link to see what inspired me! Last night I went to Rescued Treasures...shock! I found this oval frame with an ugly picture in it for $3.00. I wish it would have been cheaper but oh well.I didn't notice it was cracked until I got it home and was taking out the picture. So I super glued it and lived with it.

I picked up some ivory spray paint and a jar of chalkboard paint. This little plaque was $0.59 at JoAnns. Yes I am shameless and sent my husband through the line separately so that we could both use a coupon on the paints.

I spraypainted the frame and the plaque, although not fast enough apparently because when I got up this morning, Cami had already taken the plaque (or mirror as she called it) and was coloring on it with markers. Plan B- the spraypaint wouldn't stick to where she colored with markers so I will be making another JoAnns trip and adding it later. I painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint on a THICK piece of cardboard I cut with a craft knife.

I put the new board in the frame and closed the staples. Later I will add the plaque, painted in the same ivory to the top area of chalkboard. I will probably glue on something cut out from my cricut as well...we'll see.

It looks better in person than in the picture. The lighting in the picture brings out the texture of the board too much. But I love it!

UPDATE! I added this pic of the final product! I painted a new plaque this afternoon and cut out a cute bird from my cricut vinyl. I am in love with how this turned out!

Chalk it up

Today I've decided to work on a few projects. The first one, I started last night so that it could have a lot of time to dry. First, I bought these mini chalkboards from JoAnns. They are $1.49 for 3 (I believe) and you could use a coupon on it to be even cheaper. They come with a little gold thread attached to hang like an ornament, so I just pulled it off and it came off super easy.

I have these jars that need labeling. I was going to pull out my labelmaker like usual, but thought this would be cuter. I am snagging one of the wedding ideas and using it for my everyday pantry.

I laid them on their sides and glued down. I used Amazing E6000 but you could use gorilla glue or hot glue as well. It was just what was closest to me. =)

When I woke up this morning they were all dry and ready to go! Super cute if you ask me. Since I already had the jars, this project only cost me $1.49! Now...what else can I label around here??