chalkboard

Do you have a chalkboard somewhere in your house? It seems like most people do now. We had a large frame hanging around forever and I finally realized it would be perfect for a chalkboard and would give me a place to keep a calendar up. The kids love seeing what day it is and look at it constantly.

Here's the big empty frame:

I bought it (probably 4ish years ago) at Hobby Lobby when they had a big frame clearance. It's hard to tell how big it is until you see it with the kids. It's bigger than them!

Michael cut a piece of mdf to fit the frame opening and then I painted it with several layers of chalkboard paint.

Then we used 'glazier's push points' from the hardware store to hold the mdf into the frame. You can buy framing hardware to do the same thing in the framing section of any frame/craft store, but these are WAY cheaper and basically the same thing. They are for holding windows into wood casings. You basically just push them into your frame with a screwdriver. 

Then 'season' the chalkboard part by rubbing chalk across the entire surface before actually drawing anything. I'm no artist, and this is a pretty terrible picture, but we put our calendar on this giant chalkboard so everyone can see what day it is. It sits in the dining room on top of the fireplace Michael made and is right in the center of all the action in our house.

Now I kick myself for not putting it up sooner. Seriously, why did I let this frame sit around for so long when a project like this is so easy and quick to do?

I've seen lots of beautiful chalkboard art and get inspired to try drawing something that looks much better than the calendar. But I can't seem to get any of the 'tricks' to work. Some say you can dip your chalk in water to get darker, less dusty, lines. I've tried it and my chalk won't work at all if it's wet. If you know of any other tricks to try I'd love to hear them!