Before
This week, I finally got started. Yay! We are having a pie bar for dessert (yep! An assortment of delicious pies) and a delicious, down home menu of what I call soul food, served family style for dinner. So, I thought it would be really cute to incorporate two chalkboards—one with the dessert menu at the pie table, and one with the dinner menu near the place card/name card table. I scoured Etsy (my love) for cute, ready-made chalkboards, but discovered that most of the bigger ones are around $60, plus shipping, which adds up since they are typically so heavy. I couldn’t justify spending $150+ for chalkboard menus, so I got a little crafty.
rAbout two weeks ago, I was making my normal yard sale/flea market rounds, looking for china to mix and match (I’ll have an update on that this week!) when I came across a set of two giant pieces of wall art. They were both pretty big—maybe two or three feet tall?—with the same frame and coordinating artwork underneath. I didn’t care for the artwork (which wouldn’t matter anyway), but I knew I could work with the frames. I negotiated to get the pair for $20. Then, I went to the craft store to pick up a paint brush ($1), some chalkboard paint ($5) and a gold/bronze/metallic stain ($3).
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I took everything home and took apart the pictures. I cleaned the glass and got right to work painting the glass with the chalkboard paint. Because most of the colors at our reception will be softer, I decided to go with a grey paint rather than traditional black, and while I wanted the antique-y look of gold frames, the particular color of gold these frames was a little too much for me. It was sort of a harsh, greenish yellow gold rather than the soft, warm gold I was looking for. So, while the chalkboard paint was drying, I added a stain to the frames.
rI left everything outside to dry overnight and in the morning, I learned the hard way that paint on glass, plus morning dew, is not a friendly combination. The paint had cracked and slid all over the mirror, but, it was dry—just not evenly. Luckily, a few more coats (plus inside drying) did the trick, and I am in love with the final product! Can’t wait to get my hands on some chalk and practice my prettiest writing skills!
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