Chalkboard DIY
/
One of the hardest things I’ve found about working from home, by myself most of the time, is staying motivated. Keeping doing things at the highest level you can, when you’re the only one looking over your shoulder making sure that you’re doing things perfectly every time.
You know you should of course, you know that you ought to, it’s just that sometimes, you don’t quite feel like it.
Sometimes I’m just lazy.
Sometimes I’m tired.
Sometimes I’m bored and feel like no one will notice if I cut a corner here.
The other day I came across this quote by Mother Therese, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
I don’t save lives, I’m not likely to change to world, or even the lives of many people. But I can do what I do with great love, and great care. And I owe it to myself to do what I do with every bit of energy and pride as I can. I owe it to myself to do what I do with great love.
At the height of the chalkboard crazy about a year ago I painted a little bit of my wall with chalkboard paint and put a cheap frame around it. And it’s been sitting there ever since without much in it. So this morning I thought I would put write this line in there so every morning it will be one of the first things I see.
A quick google search showed me the cheaters way of emulating all those gorgeous chalkboard artists in Brooklyn. It’s a simple trick, with a homemade stencil, and certainly my abilities are far from perfect, but I think it’s just so sweet.
You Need:
A Chalkboard
Paper to cover the Chalkboard
A Pencil
Chalk
Ballpoint Pen
Scotch Tape
There are two ways to do this, namely the easy way, and the easier way. Do note, while your picking out your lettering that the more detailed the lettering the harder it will be to trace with chalk, so if it’s your first go at this don’t push yourself, and try something easy.
If you have a printer this project is so simple. Just pick the fonts you want, type out what you want it to say and print it.
If, like me, you are printer-less it’s not so hard either, but you’ll have to draw out the typography you want, on a big sheet of paper that fills your whole chalkboard.
When your happy with your lettering and it’s arranged on a piece of paper that covers your whole board, flip your piece of paper over and cover it with chalk. Just get it everywhere, use as much as you need and make sure the whole thing is covered.
Now flip it back over and give it a little tap to knock off the excess.
Carefully tape the top, bottom and sides to the chalkboard, making it very tight but without running your hands over the paper, you don’t want to smudge the board.
With your ballpoint pen trace the lettering. Push hard and steadily and go through all of it.
Remove the paper.
Now with your chalk go through and trace the lines to make them thicker and add in the details. A paring knife works well for keeping the edges of your chalk sharp, which will help you draw more accurately.
And your done! If you want to keep this forever you can spray it with hairspray and it will never smudge, but if you think you might get bored, like me, just leave it up for as long as you’d like!
