As part of my office make over, I made a corkboard and a chalkboard. When working in the office, I had an ongoing list of phone numbers of the notes I used on a regular basis, and tucked away in a binder were other notes that I needed, but not regularly.
While at Gordman’s I found two picture frames in clearance for $9 bucks a piece. I already had chalkboard paint and cork squares on hand. All I needed was a piece of wood for a firm backing and something to cover the cork.
Once the cork was glued to the board, I laid out the fabric and cut it, leaving enough room to glue on the flip side. Making sure that everything was straight, I started gluing the fabric, pulling it tight all the way around.
I reassembled put the cork board back into the frame and secured it with the little flaps. Then I hung it on the wall with the Command Hanging Strips.
With the cork board finished. I was able to start on the chalk board. I used the glass that came with the frame and just painted it with Martha Stewart Chalk Board paint. I needed to about five coats to cover it completely. The first coat came out really streaky. The picture below is the difference between the first and third coats.
I let the paint dry for a day. Then I seasoned the chalk board by taking a piece of chalk on it’s side and rubbed it all over the board. Then I wiped the board off with a damp rag, and put the glass back in the frame. I’ve been writing and drawing all over the board, and found some helpful posts online to get nice writing on chalk boards.
I wish I could write like this on a chalk board! I printed out what I wanted to write, then I used chalk to trace the letters on the back of the page, and rubbed it on the chalk board. To finish, I then wrote over the light tracings.
I found some chalk holders at Joann Fabric by Ek Tools. I picked up the skinny chalk holder and an extra pack of skinny chalk, and the regular sized holder with chalk. I’m not going to lie, I may be a little obsessed!
Before finding the chalk holders, I had picked up some chalk markers that said they were “washable”. Unfortunately, when I went to was it off, it didn’t completely wash off so I had to paint the chalk board again. I think these may be better on glass, or if you want something more permanent.
