Chalkboards from Old Picture Frames

Published by Shana | Filed under Tutorials

I teased this project many months ago, when it was questionable if it would even work out. Not because it’s hard, but because I am completely incapable of cutting a straight line in a board. But the handy thing about living in the Midwest is that people know how to do these things. So I suckered a coworker who writes woodworking tutorials to cut them for me. It’s important to have handy friends.

How to Turn Old Frames into Chalkboards

Don’t spend $15 on a tiny can of chalkboard paint. Depending upon what you have on hand and how you get your supplies, these are less than $5 each to make. Mine were about $2-3 each, and I did a terrible job being frugal.

You need:

• Picture frames in any size, preferably of wood
  •  I was able to find these for $1-$3 depending upon size at a thrift store, plus it was 50% off day.
• Thin, cheap board
  • You can get a huge piece of this for about $15 at a hardware store. Or look in your garage. There is probably some there.
• Paint for the frame and darker paint for the chalkboards. Any color works, so get creative. Only stick w/grey if it’s your wedding color.
  • If you don’t have left over wall paint from a home improvement project, you can have a sample mixed for about $4, which would be more than enough to do 25 or so chalkboards.
• Primer, if you’re so inclined.
• Tile grout
  • You will only need a few teaspoons. If you don’t already have this somewhere in your garage, you can get it for a dollar or two at the hardware store.
• Fine sandpaper
• Potentially hammer and nails, wood glue, or other adhesive.

This is an obscene amount of grout. You don’t need anywhere near that much.

You do:

• Find picture frames in the sizes you want, preferably in wood so paint will stick.
• Remove the sweet art, glass, and backs from the frames.
• Wash the frames. Wash them twice if you got them from a thrift store, because gross.
• While those are drying thoroughly, figure out the sizes you need to cut the backing boards by measuring the insides of the frames.
• Cut the backing boards to the sizes you noted. Also acceptable, bribe someone to do it for you.
• Once they are fully dry, prime and paint the frames. You’ll probably need two coats of paint.
• Prepare the chalkboards:
  • Paint a first coat and let dry.
  • For the second coat, mix a heaping teaspoon of tile grout  into about half a cup of paint. It might smell like cat pee. That’s okay.
  • Apply another coat and let it dry thoroughly.
  • Lightly sand each board
  • Write lewd messages to make sure it works.
• Put the boards back into the frames and secure them in place. I found that the frames closures worked for some, but others I used small nails to secure.

That is highly inappropriate, Barack O’llama

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