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Thursday, May 5, 2011

I started (and completed!) a little project

While reading blogs during my bedrest stint, I came across an idea I thought was cute. A girl had taken a thrift store frame and created a chalkboard out of it for her mantle.

Earlier this week I pulled a few items out of my closet to donate. I dropped them off at Goodwill and took a quick peek while there to see if I could find a frame that might work for the project. I found this beauty. I think it screams "Goodwill." But it was just what I was looking for- the right size, the right amount of detail on the frame. I was excited to buy it for $5.

That evening Eli helped me sand the edges a bit. The frame is actually metal with a wood veneer/coating kind of thing on it. Pretty isn't it? :/





 We removed the picture and glass with a screwdriver. Again, Eli was a big help.

 The next day something very unusual happened. All 4 of my boys were sleeping at the same time. So I took over Eli's picnic table and got to work painting it. I used soft white acrylic paint to cover the brown.

 The white didn't go down into the holes but that was ok with me. I planned on distressing the wood anyway so I wanted the brown to show through a bit.


 Here it is after I distressed it. Between coats of paint, I spraypainted the glass outside. I put the glass inside a pizza box to block any over-spray and sprayed three coats on it. I let it dry over night.

This morning I put it back together and on my mantle. I like the way it turned out. It was the look I was going for and I'll get to change the message as often as I'd like. And I can always move it. There are hooks on the back to hang it as well.

4 comments:

The Hambrick's said...

I am SO stealing this idea!

Renee said...

LOVE it! So you just spray painted the glass with chalkboard spray paint?

Gretchen said...

Yep. I think Joann Fabric had the brush on kind too, but the spray paint was really easy.

esther said...

This is such a great idea! It looks awesome!

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