Introducing: Quote of the Week (and chalkboard tutorial)

                          

This week the kids are headed back to school--yipee! Fiona starts kindergarten and Adrian will be in second grade. Over the last few weeks, the mister and I have come up with a rough set of rules in order to smooth the transition from carefree summer days to the structure of school. 

One of my goals for the upcoming school year was to give the kids some positive thoughts as they head out the door in the morning. And since 365 quotes is way beyond my level of committed-ness, I figured a quote per week should do it. 

So then where was I going to put all these quotes? On pieces of paper, stuck to the back of the front door--please, no; I'm already drowning in piles of paper. Thinking....thinking...thinking...WE NEED A CHALKBOARD QUOTE BOARD! And I happen to have scrap lumber and chalkboard paint! How convenient! (I am seriously in love with chalkboard paint). 

If you want your very own chalkboard quote board, follow these easy steps.

Assemble your supplies! Chalkboard paint, scrap lumber, and a brush or a roller. (Looks like it's time to refinish that bench, hunh?)

Oh look! Busted dresser drawers! I'll paint those with chalkboard paint too! (2 coats on the left, 1 coat on the right) These will show up again as a completely separate tutorial (who's crazy for chalkboard paint?)

Hey, there's the lumber! Looking good....I did 3 coats of the paint & then let it dry overnight in the garage.

The next day I brought the board inside, got some fancy schmancy scrapbook paper (left over from Fiona's Fancy Nancy tea party), my paper cutter, a sponge brush, and some ModPodge (matte finish). ModPodge is invaluable if you want to stick different materials together or if you want to seal paper/collages. 

Measure the side of your board & cut your paper to fit. My board was 1/2 inch thick, so I cut 4 strips of 1/2 inch paper. Use ModPodge to adhere the paper to the board. Once the ModPodge has dried, seal over the top with a thin layer of ModPodge. Why? Why not! No seriously, it will keep the paper from peeling up and yellowing with age.

Next, get out some wire (16 gauge or so), some glass beads that will fit on the wire, some pliers, some wire cutters, and some screw eyes.

Affix two screw eyes to the top of your board. I am a lazy measurer, so I measured three finger-widths from the edge. Then take your wire and cut a length as long as your board is (so if your board is 12 inches, your wire is 12 inches). Loop one end of the wire through the screw eye and twist up the end to make a loop.

BEFORE you loop through the other screw eye, put some beads on there! If you're going to be staring at it all year, why not make it worth staring at?!

Look at that paper! LOVE it!

Then loop your loose wire end through the screw eye and wrap around the wire like you did before. 

Then pinch the wire together in the middle, and twist it 4 or 5 times to make a loop for hanging.

Hang it wherever suits you. I have mine above the coat rack by the front door. 

Before you write on it, make sure it cures for a few days (per manufacturer's instructions) and that you prep it by adding a layer of chalk dust. All of that should be on the paint can, so read your directions!

Check in every Monday for our Quote of the Week!

What are some of your favorite quotes?!