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Thursday, September 15, 2011
How to Turn Glass in a Frame into a Chalkboard...
Who doesn't love a chalkboard just waiting to be adorned with special words or a fun drawing? These days, chalkboard decor is everywhere, and I couldn't resist jumping on the bandwagon and I have come up with an easy shortcut in creating beautiful chalkboards simply by painting the existing glass in frames with chalkboard paint.
I have been painting glass for years for various projects and it hit me the other day (as I was having trouble finding chalkboards to fit my various size frames), why not paint the existing glass in my frames with chalkboard paint? Well, it worked perfectly and is so easy and I now know what everybody is getting for Christmas!
Let's just jump right into the instructions:
1) Take your existing frame and glass and remove the glass. Please be careful, the sides of frame glass is unfinished and are very sharp:
2) With an oven mitt on your hand to protect from being cut, clean your glass with glass cleaner or alcohol.
3) Lay your glass flat outside on a flat surface that you can paint on without having to lift up the glass to paint and spray with any kind of spray primer that says it will work on glass:
4) The primer must completely dry otherwise the chalkboard paint will not work. I always allow at least two hours.
5) I used Valspar's Chalkboard Paint and stirred up the paint really good and applied my first coat of chalkboard paint using a wide foam brush. Chalkboard paint goes on really uneven and you may even think something is wrong. No worries, the trick is to try and just get a thin coat of paint on the glass going in one direction:
6) You will need to let your first coat of paint dry completely at least an hour or more. Then you can apply your second coat in the opposite direction of your first brush stroke. Again, the chalkboard paint does not go on very evenly but believe me, it will smooth out and dry evenly as you can see in my picture below taken right after my second coat:
After your second coat of paint dries, you will be amazed at how it magically evens out and transforms into a smooth chalkboard:
7) When the paint is completely dry, just insert the glass and cardboard piece behind the glass back into your frame and you are in business:
I painted all kinds of frame glass for this project. I painted small frames that rest on the counter (use for quotes, lists or messages) and I also painted larger wall frame glass to add a whimsical touch to my walls (draw pictures, monograms or quotes). For one particular old wall frame sitting in my junk box, I painted not only the glass but I painted the frame too:
I loved how it turned out and I put it low on my entry way wall for a certain little munchkin that runs around my home to draw on when she wants:
This project would make a great gift! Think about making one of these in a small counter frame with a quote or "Happy Birthday" written on the board and wrap it in cellophane with a pretty bow and give it to a girlfriend or sister with two sticks of chalk. For Christmas, I'm going to make several larger frames and write "Joy" or "Noel" in red chalk and wrap in cellophane and give as gifts. There are a lot of endless possibilities here!
Well that's it for now. I have been working on revamping my entry way and hope to have it all finished by next week and will be posting the project. I also have several other fun projects almost ready for you, so check back soon.
As always, thank you, thank you for your sweet comments, emails and notes! You all just warm my heart and I can't thank you enough for your kind encouragement and feedback. I laughed so hard reading all of your hysterical comments about being "Cricut-less" on the the vinyl letters and monogram post last week.
Have a wonderful weekend friends!
Cheers!
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Also sharing with ">Wow us Wednesdays
Can I do this with a mirror too? Hope so! Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Fantastic! Do you think it would work with the spray can chalk board paint? I have some on hand.
ReplyDeletePlus, I'm lazy like that ;)
Yes, it should work with a mirror, same technique. Shannon, I would think it would work with spray chalkboard paint and I even thought about that myself but had a can already. It may even be better with spray chalk paint. I would LOVE to know! Please let me know if you do it.
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies!!
Cyndy
Love this!!!! Definitely going to do it - so easy!! Thanks for sharing the steps and ideas.
ReplyDeleteWow! You are a genius! I love this! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThey looks great....I was wondering how chalkboard paint holds up on glass, when I used it on my glass kitchen canisters I used etching creme.
ReplyDeleteSo easy and cute! Thanks for the inspiration. I'll definitely be using this for our new office/homework room redo.
ReplyDeleteLove this! What kind of primer did you use?
ReplyDeleteLiz
Have you discovered Chalkboard Vinyl yet? It's basically just like contact paper (sticky on the back) with chalkboard finish on the front! I cut a piece of it in the size of frame I was using and removed the glass. Same concept, no paint!
ReplyDeleteAngela
Liz, I always use Rustoleum Professional. It's a little more expensive but it has an extremely smooth finish (unlike most spray primers), I do not have to use as much and it works for everything! Thanks ladies!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have discovered chalkboard vinyl and that is a great suggestion if you want to avoid painting. Thanks for sharing Angela!
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ReplyDeleteI just got a big frame with glass from a garage sale, and really wanted to make a chalk board. Literally 5 minutes ago I was wondering if I need to buy some kind of thin wood to place in the frame and was getting discouraged at the prospect, hoping though that there's an easier way.
ReplyDeleteThen I sat down to link one of my projects to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-up party and was looking through the list of projects and found YOURS. Soooo excited. Definitely doing that tomorrow! Thank you for sharing the tutorial. Cute blog. Now following you!
LOVE this idea ... now I know what my next craft will be:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip of done one direction then the other. I would have never thought of that by looking at it, but you explained it very clearly. Thanks for sharing :D
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Funky Junk Interiors Linky Party today,
~Suzanne in NW Illinois
I'm sharing this link with a friend who wanted to paint some glass plates with chalkboard paint. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative shortcut! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI would be delighted if you would link up to Potpourri Friday (in progress) plus a giveaway!
I found one of your projects on Pinterest and I'm so glad I came to your blog to check it out!! I can't wait to execute this project!! What a fabulous idea. :)
ReplyDeletexxoo,
Liberty
libertyoriginal.blogspot.com
That's a pretty neat creation! It beats the dry erase board in appeal for sure!
ReplyDeleteI am so doing this.. this is such a creative and brilliant idea..
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect for those of us with design ADD. I can go from quotes to simple art in a flash. My husband will love it. I'm giving the feather design a try today. Will likely put it in my foyer.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! Its a perfect gift idea for my 12-year old niece ... teenagers (or almost teenagers, I should say) are always so hard to shop for. She will LOVE this!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea and want to do it for gifts! Is the glass sturdy enough to survive being written on? I'm afraid the glass might break.
ReplyDeleteI searched this and it found you at the top of my blog's on the subject. I was wondering if it would work and I am doing this project this weekend for sure! Thank you! I have a gorgeous old frame with nothing under the glass.
ReplyDelete