The Formal Chalkboard

The inspiration:

A large painting with an ornate gold frame.  The picture came from my mother's house and I love its size and the colors.  And, as my decorating budget is non-existent, I take what I can get.  Thanks mom!  When we rearranged the house this summer (I will post details on this spur of the moment project later), I decided to hang the picture in the new dining room.  It looked good, if just a tad stuffy, with the other art in the room.  Then it hit me, what if I replaced the painting in the frame with a chalkboard?  Hence the Formal Chalkboard.

Here is the before shot of the picture with its beautiful and large gold frame. 

I wish I had some pictures of the process, but alas, the pictures I took only exist in my memory, not the memories of my camera or computer.  So, here is a written description.  

Supplies:  

Hardboard 

Can be found at a hardware store and is pretty inexpensive.  I spent $6 and had leftovers for another project

Primer 

I did not prime my chalkboard, but I would if doing the project again as the hardboard is pretty slick.

Chalkboard paint 

I used Plaid brand acrylic chalkboard paint.

Chalk 

Calcium carbonate chalk is best because it is less abrasive and won't scratch up your new board.

 Foam brush

Small nails

Hammer

Frame

The Chalkboard:  

1. Cut the hardboard to fit your frame.  Jason did this for me;  I like to make him feel useful.  Some hardware stores will also cut boards down to size as well.
2. Prime the hardboard.
3. Paint the hardboard with chalkboard paint, being careful to follow all manufactures directions on drying times and curing time.  It will probably take at least an hour for the paint to dry between coats and 24 hours for the paint to cure before use.
4. Lightly rub chalk (remember the calcium carbonate part) all over the chalkboard and then wipe clean.

Securing Chalkboard in the Frame:

Use a small nail to secure the chalkboard in your frame.  I hammered the nail into the frame at an angle.  I did not hammer through the hardboard. 

Instead, I just bent the nail down to hold the chalkboard in place.  Repeat around all 4 sides of your frame.

And here it is!  One beautiful formal chalkboard for my new dining room.  I am usually not too original in my craft ideas.  I read different blogs and magazines, and I window shop for inspiration.  This one came to me out of the air, however, I did see a similar chalkboard in the December issue of Country Living Magazine after my moment of genius.  I guess I will chalk it up to creative minds thinking alike!

If you like this chalkboard idea, would you please pin it?  Thanks, Christy

I linked up at:

 thriftydecorchick.com.







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Artist?

I have always wanted to paint. I can remember watching Bob Ross on PBS make his "happy little trees". It looked so easy.... Well, Jason gave me the night off to tap into my inner Monet. I thought I would share my evening as an artist.

We started off with a basic sketch of the trees we would be painting on a white canvas. The pencil lines are hard to see, but the instructors do the sketching before the class starts.

 

Filling in the back ground color proved to be a little tricky.  I had to leave an outline of the trunks and branches for later.  The perfectionist in me was frustrated by my lack of paint brush control.  I would see where I wanted the paint to go, and my hand go some place else. 

                                      

With the back ground colors on the canvas, we began to add layers of leaves in shades of gold and orange.

We also added black lines for the tree trunks.  

To finish the painting, we added white to the Aspen trees and more leaves in shades of red and even green.  I think the green leaves are a nice relief from all the fall colors.  Check out the inspiration painting below.

There were probably 30 people at the class sipping wine (letsartparty is BYOB), and painting together.  It was interesting to walk around the room and see how different the paintings turned out. While I am still as paint brush challenged as ever, the good instructors and carefully structured art classes at Lets Art Party will have me back to add another masterpiece to my own budding art gallery at home!

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