Holiday Crafting

Happy December everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you participated in Black Friday, I hope you got some amazing deals! I stayed in my PJ's and scored some deals online-my favorite way to shop :)
Everyone seems to either have their decorations up, or are in the process of decorating. Last winter we were moving across country, so we didn't have a chance to decorate so we are working on ours now! I'm excited to be able to with Kaden getting older so he can see everything and enjoy all the wonderful lights.
You may have seen this on Instagram or Facebook, but one of my newest crafts was our holiday chalkboard with a pompom garland-I love it.

 

A few weeks ago I made (with some help of course ha) a giant chalkboard. I found the tutorial on a fellow blogger's site over at We Lived Happily Ever After. She has amazing tutorials, graphics, printables and so many wonderful ideas! She's also a fellow Marine wife so decorating our homes can be kind of difficult because we move every few years. Go take a look at what she has going on! Anywho, a few of you have wanted to know how to make it-so I would love to share this with you! Click HERE for Hannah's chalkboard.  

For this project, you can get everything at Lowe's or Home Depot in one swoop. 
You'll need:

Two 1x4" boards cut at 27" 

Two 1x4" boards cut at 45" 

The plywood backboard is 4x2'

- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpufer

Two 1x4" boards cut at 27" 

Two 1x4" boards cut at 45" 

One plywood backboard at 4x2' (make sure it is SMOOTH)

Metal braces

Chalkboard Paint (you can make your own, but I already have a ready made can)

Wood screws

any paint or stain for your boarder

1. Paint your big plywood backboard with your chalkboard paint. I put about 4 coats on it to make sure it is super coated since the wood absorbed most of the first coat. Paint your boarder boards as well. I did this one afternoon to let all of them fully dry overnight before I put everything together. 

2. Take your metal braces with your wood screws and connect the boarders with them. Make sure you put the braces towards the top of the boards-you will be attaching the main board to the same boarder! (I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of this while we were putting them together!) The two smaller pieces will be top and bottom and the longers on the sides (which seems pretty simple, but just to make sure we're all on the same page) 

3. After the boarder is put together, place your backboard on the boarder- and you guessed it-take your wood screws and attach the board. 

4. Flip it over and 'condition' your board with chalk. Rub rub and rub some more chalk on it and lightly erase it.

5. Take a step back and admire your new chalkboard! 

I apologize for the not so great lighting...eek.

 Well there you have it my friends! Easy peasy cost effective chalkboard, just my style. I also made the pom-pom garland that went on top of the board-which I will be happily sharing with you all- so stay tuned! 

xox

Two 1x4" boards cut at 27" 

Two 1x4" boards cut at 45" 

The plywood backboard is 4x2'

- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpuf

Two 1x4" boards cut at 27" 

Two 1x4" boards cut at 45" 

The plywood backboard is 4x2'

- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpuf