Mommy's Latest Project

One of the great blessings about this move is having the time, resources, and space to make some of the ideas floating around in my head come to life.
Remember this post?
Late at night, when I can't sleep, I blog hop.
Yep, find a few blogs you love and inevitably they will link to other blogs, which link to other blogs....especially the project/creative blogs.
I've wanted to make a giant chalkboard for a long time.
Not sure where I first saw the idea, but when I saw this a few months ago- I knew the perfect spot to make it happen in our new house.
All the tutorials and examples I found online were painted directly onto a wall- since most people do a huge project like this in a home they own and plan to keep for a long time.
We are in a different boat.
A few weeks ago on a solo trip to Lowe's, two helpful employees solved my mystery.
I was torn as to what material would be best for my project.
We wanted something sturdy but not too heavy and definitely cost effective.
The winner- a sheet of drywall. Only $5.20 for an 8ft by 4ft sheet!
Just a few days later Matthew went back to Lowe's with a larger vehicle than my little Altima and got my big supplies.
Step one- purchase magnet paint (did you know they make magnet paint?! I didn't at first either. turned out to be a happy and cost effective finding), chalkboard paint, foam rollers, sheet of drywall, casing, and paint for casing.
Step two- paint casing with fabulous paint color (since I only needed a little I bought a Lowe's sample color $2.99)

Next, I took my huge 8ft x 4 ft piece of drywall and set it up in the garage on a couple tables as a nice high work space the girls could not reach.
Unfortunately, the sheet rock was just about cheek height for Miss Kennedy- slight hazard.
I painted 4 coats of Kilz primer to ensure my magnet and chalkboard paint didn't get absorbed and require a billion coats.

Then, Daddy helped me cut a foot off the end since I wanted my finished project to be slightly smaller than the sheet rock.
I ended up painting 5 coats of magnet paint on the top half of the panel.
The more thin layers you use the better it works.
Let it dry overnight (sorry no pics of this part)
Then painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint all over the panel.
After priming the panel by rubbing chalk over the whole panel and wiping it clean I couldn't WAIT to get it up on the wall!

Daddy found the studs and screwed directly through my panel and into the wall.
He kept mostly on the edges so we didn't have lots of holes in the solid surface.
The girls couldn't wait to start 'chalking'.
Madison brings lots of coloring projects home from school so the top half of the board is perfect for all her creations- (including her ten commandments train pictured)
Since we didn't have a miter box, Mommy got to pick up a new toy!
We walked through the basics and Mommy got to work- my very first mitering project!

The original plan was to use tiny finishing nails to install the casing around the panel.
After purchasing my $1.49 pack of 150 nails, Daddy indicated an air nail gun would be much easier.
Of course, we didn't have one- yeah! another new tool purchase.
Thanks to Harbor Freight we picked one up for super cheap and it will be perfect for the very few times we will actually use it.

The mitered edges lined up pretty well considering I used a hand saw (and it was my first time with a miter box- wobble, wobble)

The bottom half gets used lots more (wonder why) so it is consistently 'dirtier' even after being wiped clean.

We installed a little shelf for our chalk and magnet container to the left of the chalkboard.

Here is the view from our kitchen island.

The more I look at it, the more I love it.

So do the girls.

Even Matt smiles about it now, too.

I my chalkboard!