Making your own oversized chalkboard

Posted on by Jennifer Allwood
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Chalkboards are all the rage, right?  I can’t get enough of them!  I’ve had so many of my clients lately ask me how to make them, so I thought I would put together a tutorial.

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The key to a good chalkboard is a good frame!!!! You are looking for a framed PRINT with no glass on it that has a great frame!

Think Kirklands.

Think garage sale season.

Think of the ugly framed prints your grandmother used to have that are now in your attic.  They are ugly, but the frames are cool.

If you can find a print with a cool frame…you are golden.

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So what do you paint first?  The print or the frame?
 
After painting about 1237 of them this winter (I exaggerate slightly)…
 
I have decided paint the frame first!!!!
 
Trust me on this.

 

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If the frame is super slick or you are an OCD-ish person, it needs primed first.

If you are me……just spray the frame with a great color and ignore the priming.

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After the frame is painted and CURED (you may need to wait a few days), tape it off (sorry this picture had no tape in it, but I swear I do tape) and then prime over the print.

Any water based primer works.

Even is the print is not smooth, but has a little texture….its totally fine.

I have gray primer at home and black chalkboard paint covers quicker over gray primer than white, so that’s why I used gray primer.  But any primer color will do.

You can get chalkboard paint from any home improvement store or I use Black Bean by Heirloom Traditions.  It’s the paint I use on all my chalkboard paint projects.

I roll 2-3 coats of the chalkboard paint over the primer and call it done.

Then, you need to CUT THE TAPE off.

Again, trust me on this.  Otherwise your chalkboard paint dries to it and it will peel the chalkboard paint off of your print.

And you will throw things. I promise.

So, cut the tape.
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Here is a chalkboard I finished before Christmas.

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And the red one with its “non-Christmas-y twin”.  Both have a black glaze over the spray paint colors.

 
In the event you are hiding any of those Kirkland prints or grandma’s framed prints in your basement….and DON’T WANT them anymore….please hook a sista up! Email me….I will take them off of your hands for you!!!
 
 
 

7 comments
  1. "Lisa"
    "Lisa"
    April 5, 2012 at 1:21 am

    What kind of black glaze do you use?

  2. Magic Brush
    Magic Brush
    April 5, 2012 at 2:13 am

    Lisa I used black stain and seal from Faux Effects!

  3. sell my house
    sell my house
    April 5, 2012 at 7:39 am

    The magic Brush is excelent project that use stain and sealblack gllaze.

  4. Pure Juice
    Pure Juice
    April 6, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Love this Jennifer!!! 🙂

  5. mandy
    mandy
    January 26, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    Hello, would this work still if the frame is not wood?? (plastic)
    thanks!

  6. mandy
    mandy
    January 26, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    Hello, would this work still if the frame is not wood?? (plastic)
    thanks!

  7. How to make a chalkboard from an old framed print
    November 5, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    […] fun place for the kids to draw, or for me to make a menu or command center. I also have some cute Christmas chalkboards I painted as gifts. And then one of my favorite chalk painted projects is this […]

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