Saturday, February 18, 2012

DIY Magnetic Chalk Board!! "Christie Style"

I'm Christie from I'm Losing It!  I am a co worker of Mrs. Davis!  Haleigh started working there about a week before I came along.  So she and I were the "new girls".  She and I have bonded over our love of animals, animal rescue, and creative adventures...   So when she asked if I would do a DIY guest post, I got totally psyched about it!  This girl is so AWESOME!!!  I feel so honored!! 

So when asked to do a DIY project and document it, I must say, it seemed a little daunting at first! However, I knew almost immediately what I was going to do! I have been wanting a magnetic chalkboard to put on my fridge for some time now. I wanted to have it all nice and pretty and not to mention… I wanted some “bling” to it. I had been searching Etsy for a while, and I could never find one that fit my needs that wasn’t around $30-$35 so I decided that I would take on this project!
I have to tell you here… I had awesome intentions to use the wooden dowels that you will see pictured… but those didn’t work out too well.. haha!

I went to the *Big Name Craft Store* and purchased everything I knew I would need for the project. Minus the magnets because I already had those at the house. I didn’t want to spend more than $20.00 on a project so I was quite pleased with my total coming out to $18.55!! I had a 20% off coupon that I was able to use, along with a couple of items that were on sale!!



CHECK OUT THE SAVINGS!! I am quite pleased with that!

I gathered my materials. I purchased an 18 x 18 square wooden board, the chalkboard spray paint, the wooden dowels, the chalk, and of course… I can’t neglect the “bling” aspect!! THE HOT PINK GLITTER RIBBON!!! YAY!


I learned a while ago that you should NEVER spray paint without gloves on… that stuff is REALLY hard to get off of your hands!! So, it is wise to have disposable gloves on. I always keep these in the house because when I clean, my hands dry out.

This is when I set to work.... and yes, in the above picture, you will also see a trash bag. Make sure that you have an open space with lots of ventilation when you are spray painting. Those fumes are TOXIC!! It worked out perfectly that it was a decent (although chilly) day, so I was able to utilize my backyard for this.

I laid out my trash bag, and placed the 18 x 18 wood board on top of it, and went to town with the Chalk Board spray paint. It doesn't take much, but I like to make sure that I have all of my bases covered. So I did three coats of it. I let it dry about an hour between each coat of paint I sprayed.


Here is where the wooden dowel debacle ensued. This was the most time consuming and stupid decision I had... because I didn't think before hand! (you can't buy 18" wooden dowels, and expect them to frame your 18 x 18 board perfectly....) I painstakingly wrapped 4 - 18" dowels with the nice hot pink glittery blingy ribbon (THANK goodness I purchased two spools of it!). This took FOREVER!!I let the board dry for 24 hours (which is the recommended time that was listed on the Chalkboard Paint Spray can) and went to work... that's when the "DUH CHRISTIE!!" moment occurred... So I nixed the sparkly ribbon wrapped dowel idea and went with a MUCH easier and in my opinion... a prettier "frame"! I glued (with regular Tacky Glue! That stuff is AWESOME!) the ribbon directly to the board!!! and... I still got to use my sparkly hot pink ribbon!!


After I finished the gluing of the ribbon, I trimmed the edges and let it dry for about an hour! Then I was able to flip the board over and get to work on gluing the magnets to the back of the board.
Just a little dab of glue!

I used a lot of magnets.. I just didn't want it sliding down the fridge!

And then you are READY to display your Menu, Messages. or notes to yourself written in fun chalk colors!!!




And it's easy peasy to wipe down! Just with a damp wash cloth or sponge! It will erase the chalk and you have a clean slate to work with again!

I guess I could have just used a plain old dry erase board that you can purchase at the dollar store, but I like the creativity of the chalk board... and the decorations... :-)

I LOVE IT!!! and not to mention, it's kinda fun to draw with the colored chalk on it. oh... and those stupid dowels..... They have become magic wands for my nieces and my best friend's children! I added some more pink ribbon to the ends of them so that they were "flowy"... and so they didn't go to waste and the time was well worth it to see them smile!

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