Recently, while thinking of ways to try to up my sales at market, I was musing how it would be nice to have some sort of sign out front. That way people walking by wouldn't have to come into my booth to see some of what I offer, and I could catch their eye and entice them in. :) A white board or chalkboard would have been nice...but we didn't have any that I could use, and I didn't want to buy one. So why not make one?
Dad was kind enough to donate a piece of plywood, and I started off by sanding it slightly and putting on a coat of plain black spray paint just to help prime it a bit. The board was a little bit large to make the whole thing a chalkboard, so I measured and decided to have a 3 inch border around the edges.
Once the black paint was dry, I used painter's tape to mark that off. In our stash of spray paint in the garage, this yellow color was the best option, so I applied a coat around the edges. When that dried, the tape came up easily and left a nice, sharp edge between the black and yellow.
Mom bought this chalkboard paint for me at the store, and it had to have at least 2 coats, with a hour between each coat to dry. It was easy to brush on, and since I had the black spray paint as a base coat, I could stay comfortably away from the border without it showing.
After about 3-4 coats, it was all done! It just had to cure for 24 hours, and it was ready to write on. This past Saturday, I made a few items that I don't regularly bring, so those were highlighted. I don't know if it was because of the Labor Day weekend, or if the chalkboard really brought more attention to my booth, but it was a wonderful day of sales!
It just took some scrap wood, leftover spray paint, a small bottle of chalkboard paint, and some time! We'll see how it works in the weeks ahead. :)
~Sarah
