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Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Make A Big Magnetic Chalkboard

It’s Tuesday the 30th… so it’s time to share this season’s (completely unofficial) Pinterest Challenge project (not sponsored by Pinterest or anyone else, just dreamed up by Katie to make us stop pinning and start doing). Huzzah!

Fall Pinterest Banner

This time John and I tried our hand at making a large chunky-framed leaning mirror – except instead of it actually being a mirror we made it into a giant chalkboard (since chalkboard paint is probably the most Pinterest-tastic material out there, haha).

Chalk 14 Clara Coloring1

By designing it like a large leaning mirror, it can move from room to room, and it can be a place where we write sweet notes, make lists, and enjoy Clara-scribble (we secured it to the wall with leaning mirror hardware so it’s kid-safe – more on that method here).

As per the challenge rules, I took inspiration (or Pintspiration, har-har) from the projects that I linked up to in last Tuesday’s post and did my own spin. Here’s a recap of them for ya:

  1. Top left: this big arse chalkboard from here
  2. Top right: this leaning easel board found here from this awesome blog
  3. Bottom right: this door-chalkboard from here

And here’s how we tackled our own version. The cool thing is that we were able to use a big board of plywood that we already had leftover from building in the fridge back in November of last year (yes, it was just chilling in our basement since then). But before we got to the chalkboard paint application, we rolled on some magnetic paint (since we already had a quart of that from this project in our first house). Sorry this isn’t a full shot of the plywood board, but it’s 68″ tall and 21″ wide if that helps.

Chalk 1 Magnetic Primer

After a four coats of magnetic paint (we wanted it to be pretty strong) it was time to add the chalkboard paint. So we grabbed this can from Home Depot for ten bucks and we rolled on two coats of it. We only applied it to the front side of the board, but you can see from this pic that we actually had some fun with the back side too, but we’ll get to that in a second.

Chalk 2 Chalkboard Paint

As for building this whole shebang, we set out to make it without the need of any fancy saws or tools. And because Home Depot is happy to cut plywood to size for you to make the board, and you can also get them to cut a few 1″ x 6″ boards to create the frame… this project calls for no cuts at home at all. Woot!

For our 68″ x 21″ piece of plywood we got two 29.5″  1 x 6″ boards for the top and bottom of the frame, and two 63″ pieces for the sides. This allows for a little bit of overlap when the frame is assembled so the board looks as if it sits inside the frame (but really rests behind it). The total height and width of the entire finished project is 29.5″ wide by 74″ tall.

Chalk 3 Frame Boards

As for the stain, we went with our old favorite (leftover from a bunch of other projects) which is Minwax in Dark Walnut. We stained the wood before we assembled the frame because it seemed easier not to have to worry about getting stain on the chalkboard part of the board.

Chalk 4 Stain

After the frame was all stained and dried, we just used our Kreg Jig to attach them (but if you don’t have one you could easily use metal brackets to hold them together from behind or just try to screw them together from behind without a jig).

Chalk 5 Screwing Together

Bam. A dark walnut frame. Without a miter saw, angle calculations, or anything else that could get complicated.

Chalk 6 Frame Done1

Then we attached the chalkboard part to the frame from behind. And… surprise! John got a wild hair and painted the back in Citron (a leftover pot of BM paint that we had), just because he said the bare beat-up back was bugging him. Sure, we’ll probably only see it once every few years when we carry it around the house (you know we like to move things around) but I love that man for adding that secret plane of color just because he knows it’s there. Haha.

Chalk 7 John Screwing

Oh and to be clear about how you attach the chalkboard part to the frame, you just screw around the edge of the chalkboard from behind because it overlaps the frame slightly, so as long as your screws are long enough to go through the plywood and into the stained frame (without poking all the way through the front) you’re golden. I think the length we used for those screws was an inch and a quarter.

Then we just let it air out/cure for a while (chalkboard paint + stain are both stiiinky until they fully cure) and it was finally time to bring it up into the living room along the wall where we wanted to lean it. Then we just secured it to keep it from tipping over (using the same dealio that we used here). Don’t want it bonking the bean!

Chalk 8 After Blank1

Next it was time to “condition” it by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk all over it and then wiping it all off. Boom. Conditioned.

Chalk 9 Conditioning1

Ta-daaaaa! I know in the pics it seems to be one of the only wood tones in the room, but the console behind the sofa is the same finish and we’d love to build/repurpose a cabinet for the TV in the same rustic finish, so we think it’ll be more balanced and make more sense as the rest of the room comes together. One nice thing we didn’t even think about is that the color of the chalkboard paint ties into the sofa and the beams, so it sort of “marries” the wood console and the gray items in the room. Gotta love a “bridge piece.”

Chalk 10 After Full Room

I’m sure the scribbles will constantly be changing (we have a fun Thanksgiving idea to implement when November rolls around) but for now I just wrote a quote that I love up on the top. It says “the happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”

Chalk 11 Quote1

Then Clara woke up from her nap to see it hanging out in the living room and cautiously approached it. For a second she didn’t know what to think, but when we told her she got to draw on it and handed her a box of chalk…

Chalk 12 Clara Calm1

… let’s just say she got pretty darn excited. Haha.

Chalk 13 Clara Crazy Tongue1

Here’s a video of her in action for ya:

It must be a mom thing, but I totally think my kid’s scribbles are THE BEST. I mean, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

Chalk 14 Clara Coloring1

So that’s how it all went down. As for the money stuff, here’s a little budget breakdown:

  • $0 – leftover plywood board, leftover stain, leftover magnetic paint (a guess for buying all of these might be $45?)
  • $10 – chalkboard paint from Home Depot
  • $16 – four 1 x 6″ boards to make the frame
  • Total: $26 (this project could potentially cost around 70 bucks if you don’t have leftover materials)

Don’t forget to check in on Katie, Carmel, and Sarah to see what awesomesauce projects they’ve whipped up (they’ll all be sharing theirs sometime today as well)!

Pint Banner

And now here’s the part where we tip our homemade hats to you guys and invite you to share all of the fun Pinterest Challenge projects that you’ve tackled in the last week (right along with us, well at least virtually with us). If you’ve already blogged about it, just:

  1. click on the blue “Add Your Link” button with the odd cartoon head at the bottom of this post (you might have to do some scrolling, depending how many projects are added)
  2. add a link to your specific blog post about your project in the url field (not your home page)
  3. where it says “name” write a descriptive name for your project (ex: “Homemade Leaf Wreath”) as opposed to your actual name
  4. we’d also love if you could quickly link back over to our project posts within your own (here’s Katie’s, Carmel’s and Sarah’s) – it’s also nice to link to your inspiration project on Pinterest as well as to directly link to the original project/site, just so they get some love too.

And if you’d rather just link over to your project in the comment section, feel free to do that – or even add a link to a free photo sharing site like Flickr with your pics if you don’t have a blog (remember to set the gallery to public so we can all see it). We’re crazypants excited to see what you guys have been up to!



Comments

  1. Jackie says

    Love it! Clara looks very happy. Plus, when she grows out of the coloring stage, this chalk board is nice enough to use in your kitchen or laundry room for a to-do list or grocery list!

    Reply

  3. linda (burlap+blue) says

    Oooo…love this! I painted our kitchen pocket door with chalkboard paint and my 3 yr old loves not just drawing on it, but can spend an hour wiping it clean with a damp sponge (now if only I could get him to do the same for the rest of the kitchen….) Thanks for hosting, just linked up! xo

    Reply

  6. Wendy - Old Town Home says

    I love the new chalkboard! Is it just me, or has Clara grown a few inches overnight?

    Thanks again to YHL and the Pinterest Challenge crew for getting us all inspired and motivated to tackle new projects. As always, it was a blast!

    Reply

  7. Tanya from Dans le Townhouse says

    I love your chalkboard!! It looks great in that space, too, because it really fills up the wall and balances out the desk visually. I am such a fan of chalkboard, I could see a million chalkboard ideas and never tire of it. I even made our knifeblock chalkboard when its varnish peeled and it needed a facelift:

    http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.hu/2011/09/diy-chalkboard-knife-block.html

    Thanks for hosting this fab Pinterest party!

    Reply

  8. Tracie@MiddleClassMod says

    I love how you guys are balancing making a living room fun for a pre-schooler with making a living room look great. Love the chalkboard, and kind of want one for myself!

    My first Pinterest project failed, and then my second tried to kill me…Ah well.

    On a more serious note, I’m glad you guys are well and am keeping a good thought for all the people impacted by Sandy.

    Reply

  9. Lindsay says

    Love the chalkboard. I think you will enjoy it for a long time!
    Keep us posted about your book tour dates in NY/CT/NJ and if anything changes with the storm…

    Reply

  12. Julia @ Chris Loves Julia says

    That turned out so awesome. I am LOVING that chunky wood frame (in our favorite stain, too!). You know our big chalkboard gets tons of use around here. Daily! It hangs out in my studio now as Greta’s blank canvas when I’m working, but for our costume party over the weekend, I brought it downstairs and all of the kids covered that thing three times over. Chalkboards=the best!!

    Reply

  13. John @ Our Home from Scratch says

    This is a great project. I’ll probably be building one of these myself in the next couple years. More proof that pocket screws make the world go round.

    We might take a drive up to NJ on Friday to your book signing! We’ll see how the roads and bridges are. We still have power in SJ.

    Reply

  14. Ali Miller says

    I am thinking there has to be SOME use for the flip side with the pretty color John painted! Like..using it as a backdrop to stick up some pictures of Clara at her next birthday? It could even be laid across two benches and used as a table!

    Reply

  17. Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says

    I’m so bummed – we lost power and had to hunker down so I didn’t get to finish up my project, pictures and post. Are you extending the entry time due to Hurricane Sandy?

    P.S. Glad you guys are safe….it is still circling over top of us so more high winds are expected.

    Reply

  21. Laura says

    Ooh I can see next year’s birthday pics being taken here. What a cute way to write what she is loving at the moment and what age she is.

    Reply

  23. Lissa says

    So glad that you all made it through the storm ok. On her way to school this morning, Riley said, “Momma, I hope that Clara and her Mommy and Daddy and doggy are ok. I told her that I was sure that you all were fine and that it was nice of her to think about you. We prayed last night for you all and for everyone we knew on the East Coast.

    Love your chalkboard and the video of Clara!! She is too funny!! P.S. I don’t know why that video I put on Facebook of Riley saying Hi to Clara wouldn’t work. I might have to try again.

    Reply

  34. Emma (Broke Ass Home) says

    Oh goodness, I love your child. We were finishing up our dining room (FINALLY! It’s Done!) last night, so I’ll be doing my pin later this week I think. Kind of like Christmas, keep the pinning going all year round! ;)

    Here’s the dining room! I’m so excited! It’s full of stuff from Pinterest too, from the Pallet behind the book case to the two toned table. LURRVEEE
    http://www.brokeasshome.com/2012/10/wagner-table-of-six.html

    Reply

  37. katalina says

    I was thinking maybe you would put this in the black side of the frig wall–but you probably have something else dreamed for that space!

    glad you are safe and sound!

    Reply

  41. tracy says

    Looks great! I know that yours is rustic and specifically matched to your console, so this tip doesn’t really apply to this project, but, should you ever want to get a really even coat of stain with less variation of light/dark, you can water pop the wood first. We did it to our wood floors, which gave us a nice even darkness but still kept the wood grain nice and visible. Just sand as you normally would, and then rub it down with a wet washcloth. This raises the grain again so it will absorb the color evenly. You will be convinced that you ruined all your hard work from sanding, but just keep the faith. You can read more online about it if you’re curious.

    Reply

  43. Esther says

    I’m in love with a Dark walnut stain, rustic and elegant at the same time. Your chalkboard looks great! I’ve also been browsing everyone’s links, and there are so many amazing projects I want to try there. And I have so much more browsing to do! Pinterst-challenge-reveal day is definitely not a day for getting work done.
    And I have to say, my reaction from that first pic was you can put that cutie beside just about anything and it will look awesome. Clara is so lively and adorable!

    Reply

  48. Liz C. says

    this is great! do you have suggestions about making this into a mirror instead of a chalkboard? I have been eyeing the huge leaning mirrors at Ikea but at $120 a pop, I’m reluctant!

    Reply

  49. Katrina says

    I’m with you – I think my daughter’s pictures are the best. Last year for Christmas my husband set her up with watercolors and watercolor paper and the painting that resulted looks like a landscape at sunset to me. And this weekend she caught be completely off guard and wrote her name!

    This has gotten my creative juices flowing – maybe I can turn the awkward wall in my kitchen into a magnet/chalkboard for notes and fun for the kiddos. Now just to figure out how to incorporate the off center light switches…

    Reply

  50. Ginger says

    Ok, I’ve thought about doing this because my kids love playing with chalk outside, but how do you deal with the dust?? Dust in the house, and on hands? The chalk that you use outside seems to get ALL over their hands, clothes, etc. and I worry about that happening inside too. Getting on furniture, rugs, etc.

    Reply

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