Maybe it’s the artist in me, but I truly appreciate chalkboard art. When I walk into a coffee shop complete with a wall of colorful, scripty chalk-written menu items, I absolutely swoon. Chalk isn’t the easiest medium in the world, and anyone who can master it is pretty darn talented in my book.
Hoping to learn the art myself, I’ve been pinning away some inspiration for use at our house. Since we don’t happen to have a daily rotating menu of flaky pastries and flavored lattes to spout off on our own chalkboard, I settled for inspirational quotes instead. Here are some of my favorites:
In the end, I decided to go with the last quote. The chalkboard piece I have in mind has been situated in our kitchen for the last several weeks, and after reading off the options to John yesterday afternoon, he voted the last for its reference to a garden – Works well with the idea of a kitchen full of fresh produce, right?
But let’s step back in time for a moment so that I can introduce you to our framed chalkboard. After a particularly fruitful yard sale excursion, I was able to snag the haul below – A $4 lamp, some $2 dishes, the terrarium I’ve already overhauled (as seen here), a vintage pyrex set for $2, etc. etc. But I also got that large frame in the background. It was in great shape and came with a piece of cardboard cut to size. The white wash finish I wasn’t too keen on, but that’s nothing a little paint can’t fix.
To get a semi-replica of the one I made over for our wedding (which was to go back to the friend I had borrowed it from), I went with a gold spray paint for the frame, and a chalkboard spray paint for the cardboard. Several thin and even coats later in the front yard, and we were good to go.
Alas, not knowing what exactly I wanted to write on my new framed chalkboard, it sat on top of our china cabinet for a couple of weeks, blank as can be.
But yesterday’s rainy Sunday opened up hours and hours of time to get my artistic juices flowing. So I parked myself on the kitchen floor with white chalk in hand (in a handy-dandy chalk holder of course – Not a big fan of the airy, gritty feel of chalk).
After reading off the possible quotes to John and settling on the one from Ms. Hepburn, I kept my iPhone lit for guidance and got down to work. I am lucky to have years of practice with this type of thing from art school, but if you are tackling this on a whim, the great thing about chalk is that it’s easily wipe-able if it starts to get a little wonky. I definitely had to rework a couple of spots, so I kept a wet wash cloth by my side for emergency use.
Tada! Here’s the finished product:
The shading in of the letters with my finger tip was a little scary, but again, it brought me right back to my art school days and those are memories I’m more than happy to welcome with open arms. Once back on top of the china cabinet, I couldn’t help but fall madly in love with it. It’s far from perfect, but I’m excited to know that it’s possible to at least PARTIALLY replicate the chalkboard art that I love so much from the pros.
The best part is that I can change it with our moods – The versatility of chalk is so much fun. Heck, I could even pull it down from its perch, set it flat on the table and load it up with tiny appetizer dishes of cheese with little chalk labels written on the board. The possibilities are virtually endless…
What do YOU use chalkboard paint for? Am I the only one so in love with those beautiful chalkboard menus at the coffee shop?
