Magnetic Chalkboard Art Project

At the beginning of this month, I posted this $7.99 frame from Hobby Lobby as the Bargain Find of the Week. At the time, I didn’t know how I was going to fill the frame or where exactly I would place it in the house. But I am a firm believer of letting things sit until you find some inspiration and have a clear vision of how you want a finished project to look and feel.

I found my inspiration for this project in several places. First, one day I walked in the front door and noticed the empty frame sitting on the easel. I hadn’t noticed it immediately after placing the frame and easel in that spot, but I noticed that day that it could be clearly seen when standing in my front entryway. That is when it occurred to me that I should make some sort of message board.

But what kind of message board? I had seen some great chalkboard projects done all over blog land, but I just never thought I could fit a black or dark grey chalkboard into my Family Room decor. Then I found a jar of BROWN chalkboard paint from Joann’s. Perfect! I still wanted to add a little sparkle to the chalkboard though. I found that inspiration over at Shanty 2 Chic’s Too Cute Magnets! If you haven’t done so already, please check out these two wonderful ladies’ blog. They have some terrific projects and I also won their most recent giveaway (I love my pink hammer!). Whitney’s project inspired me to use a magnetic paint primer under my chalkboard paint so I could attach some sparkly letters to the board also.

So I used the hardboard backing from this poster frame (I will be using the acrylic front in another project to be completed soon) and added so many coats of magnetic primer that I actually lost count. I think it was about 4 or 5 though. The instructions said that the magnetic receptivity increased with the amount of coats added and I wanted to make sure my magnets would stick. I then went over the top with 2 coats of the brown chalkboard paint.

I found the exact same letters Whitney used on sale for $5.99 at Joann’s last week. I spray painted and embossed them and added pieces of magnet sheets to the back of each letter.

That pack of punch out comes with tons of letters. So far, I have enough to spell out Welcome, Happy Harvest, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Easter. I plan to decorate all of these letters and change out my message board seasonally. I think this is another one of my most favorite projects so far. And to think it all started with a $12.50 easel and $7.99 frame that I thought was just too good of a bargain to pass up!

I am linking up to Kimba's Diy Day at A Soft Place to Land. Go check out the great projects!