Old Cabinet Door TRANSFORMED TO Fun Chalkboard!

Before...

After!

Ok, so you really can't go wrong with a cute chalkboard in your house! Especially when you can make one yourself, for essentially FREE (or pretty darn cheap)!

This project did not cost me a penny! But, that's also because I had all of the supplies on hand already, and I was lucky enough to have found a couple old cabinet doors out at my parents house!

So let's get to it, 

Here's What You Need:

Cabinet door

Sander/Sand paper

Chalkboard Paint

Paint for "Framing"

Paint brush 

Painter's Tape (optional)

Here's How I Did It (in 3 Easy Steps):

1. Sand Cabinet Door. 

I used my electric sander and I used medium grit sand paper. The cabinet door I was using had been stained and had a glossy finish on it, so I sanded until it was pretty much down through the stain, to the natural wood. 

*Be sure to clean off all of the dust on your cabinet door from sanding.

You can see there's still some stain/finish left, but
I was planning to prime, so I didn't get too carried away with sanding.

*OPTIONAL STEP: Prime. 

If you're able to sand down through all of the stain/finish on your cabinet door and get down to the natural wood, then you don't need to prime it all. I chose to prime mine, just because with this specific door there were too many different grooves that were tough to sand good. I chose to just prime these areas and skip the sanding because I was limited on time (...working during Gavin's naps forces me to work much faster than I used to!). I primed the entire cabinet door with one coat, even where I would be painting the chalkboard paint.

**Once my 1 coat of primer was dry, I went back and lightly hand-sanded the entire cabinet door. This just makes sure you have a nice, smooth surface.

2. Chalkboard Paint. 

I used Martha Stewart's Chalkboard Paint that I bought from my local Michael's store. This is where I decided to tape off my cabinet door. I never totally trust painters tape, I feel like every time I use it, paint seeps under it to some extent. So, I chose to do the chalkboard paint BEFORE I finished painting the "framed" part around the chalkboard. This way, any chalkboard paint that runs under the painters tape, I can cover up when I paint the frame. 

Whatever chalkboard paint you use, follow the directions. For what I use, it says to allow 1 hour of dry time between each coat (I always do at least 2, usually 3 coats of chalkboard paint), then to allow at least a full 24 hours for the chalkboard paint to cure, before use.

3. Paint Frame. Last but not least, paint the frame part around the chalkboard! I usually always go with white, but decided since (eventually) I'll have all white doors & trim in the house, I need something besides white! Add some distressing on the corners & edges if you want some extra character! (I almost always distress my projects to some extent, but this one I actually didn't....YET anyway...)

:)

There you go! A super fun & easy DIY project!

Rustic Wood Chalkboard DIY

So my love for chalkboards has really grown... Everything I see now, I think "Oh my gosh- that could make an awesome chalkboard!" So yes, I wanted to make a rustic, "outdoorsy" chalkboard for my front porch! Why not, right?!

I bought this plank of wood, which still has really cool bark on the sides (as you can see in the pictures below) from Michaels for only a few dollars. (please ignore the fact that I did this project on an old cardboard box we had.. I don't have a "craft room" yet.. that's down the road for me.. so this box is my "craft box". Kind of sad, I know.) 

:)

All I did was sand down the top part that I was going to apply the chalkboard paint onto... made it nice and smooth.  I used Martha Stewart chalkboard paint and put on 3 coats of it.  

I let it dry for 24 hours, and voila, there you go! As you can see below, it makes for a nice little welcome sign for my front porch! I might get creative and change it up for holidays, or seasons... we'll see.

:)

Gavin's Monthly Chalkboards (months 3-5)

Gavin's Monthly Chalkboards

Months 3-5

First and foremost I updated my chalk board! (YAYY!) My old one I had just bought from Michaels, and it was nothing fancy- but it got the job done.  For Gavin's monthly pictures I wanted a much cuter chalk board, and I found the perfect one that was made from an old cupboard door! (How cool right?!) 

I didn't start doing his chalkboards until he was 3 months old.. I guess the first 2 months I just didn't want to use a board? I used the cute little month stickers and that was good enough.  But once he was getting a little older and developing more of a personality, I liked being able to include those things on the boards (especially to be able to track his crazy, insanely fast growth! He was born at 9lbs 11oz and 21 1/2"...  just so you have an idea of how fast he grew on me!!).

So anyway... here are my sweet baby's monthly boards thus far! :)

ENJOY!

(yes, my baby boy is a chunk!!)

Pregnancy Chalkboards

Pregnancy Chalkboards

Pregnant with my little Gavin Man

So as soon as I found out I was pregnant with Gavin, I really wanted to keep track of my weekly belly bump growth! So I started out doing a weekly chalkboard.. which lasted until week17. I actually don't even think I took a picture with any of my chalkboards... but I did manage to at least take a picture of them when I finished them.  Obviously, with my future pregnancies, I plan to be much better about taking pictures WITH my boards...(I do have a belly picture for almost every week of my pregnancy, just minus the board).

I love doing chalkboards- and I've been much better about doing monthly chalkboards with Gavin since he's been born :) Those will be in their own post!  (When Gavin was born I also upgraded my chalkboard... instead of the cheap one I got from Michaels... the one you'll see in these pictures... I bought one that was made out of an old kitchen cupboard door! LOVE IT!)

But here are the boards I managed to do while pregnant with my little man!

ENJOY! :)