Turning thrift shop frames & fabric swatches into decorative chalkboards.

Have you heard of Scribble Shop?  It is an amazing online resource for crafters... tons and tons of craft supplies at awesome prices, plus inspiration and tutorials all in one stop!

They sent me a big box of mystery goodies and challenged me to get creative.  Here's what they sent me:

I got some great goodies! A pack of black and white patterned fabric squares,  some Americana chalkboard paint, a big bag of multi-colored feathers, a pack of Martha Stewart glitter, some glittered brads, and two packages of felting, one turquoise and one gold.

They also sent me some Ferrero Rocher chocolates, which I ate immediately under the guise of creative fuel for my brain...

I decided to take 2 old Goodwill frames that I had and turn them into mini-chalkboards.

Challenge Materials Used:

• black and white patterned fabric squares
• Americana chalkboard paint

From My Own Supplies:

• Mod Podge
• old frames

The first thing I did was go through the fabric pieces and sort them according to whether they were predominately black or white.

I wanted to cover one frame in white and one frame in black.  I cut the squares in half and positioned them around the frames.

I applied a nice coat of Mod Podge to the frame and applied the fabric, pressing it down with my fingers to ensure it was following the detail of the frame.

To be honest, it would have been a lot easier had I been doing this on a rectangular or square frame as opposed to the ovals.  The curves made it a bit more challenging.  If there are a few bare spots here and there, just layer on some more fabric.

While the fabric covered frame dried, I began to apply the chalkboard paint to the glass that came with the frames.  I can already hear a couple of you... "Glass!?  What!?"  Yes.  I painted the glass.

Follow the directions on the paint, but usually it's two applications: one in vertical strokes, the next in horizontal  stokes.

These are framed chalkboards that will be in my house, and be written on by me.  They will not be installed in a 2nd grade classroom and subjected to rough-housing...  I promise, they will hold up just fine.  (Besides, it's a guaranteed fit in my oval frame.  Why wouldn't I use it?)


Reassemble the frames.  I thought about just putting them on little plate stands, but I have this strange little wall by our front door that I can't figure out what to do with.  I decided to hang them up there.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

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