You guys, I hopped on the chalkboard train… I finally did it.
Boy am I glad I did, and so are the children.
You see, chalkboard-everything has been on Pinterest since Pinterest has been Pinterest. Whoa, take a breath. So after resisting its influence for a solid year, I finally caved and made our household a chalkboard. I figured it was the only sensible thing to do with the scrap wood from the headboard I built for my mom. Well, I guess it wasn’t the only thing I could do, but it seemed like the best bet. Here’s how I did it.
After priming and painting the scrap plywood, and staining and sealing the 1×4’s for the frame, I began attaching the frame to the plywood. But before even buying the 1×4’s, I had to do some measuring. I decided to inset the frame two inches into the board on all sides. Since the actual measurement of a 1×4 is 1×3.5, I measured the shortest sides of the plywood and added three inches. Then, I measured the longest sides and subtracted four inches. Is this making sense? That left me with four boards that lined up perfectly, with two inches of each board touching the chalkboard, and one and a half inches hanging off the edge. Does that make sense now? Well, I tried.
To attach the boards in the right place, I drew a level line two inches in on the wrong side of each 1×4.
I placed the two shorter boards on the floor (wrong side up), then laid the plywood, chalk side down, on the boards.
I lined up the level lines to the edge of the board, pre drilled, then drilled in the screws.
Voila! A simple chalkboard that will keep the little ones (and me!) entertained for hours on end.
Eliana was happy to coach the chalkboard into modeling by saying, “Okay chalkboard, say cheese!” Then of course she needed to get in on the action.
That was when I decided to put some pants on the girl.
At least she wasn’t completely unclothed, like when we were trying to potty train her.
So tell me, have you made anything with chalkboard paint? Do share!
