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
Great idea Sarah! One of our DIL puts the chalk board paint on old silver trays she finds at the thrift store (Leaving a nice silver edge as an accent)and uses it as a decoration . She ususally puts a Bible verse on it or "Welcome" or "Happy Fall" etc... you get the idea. Anyway, great idea..hope you get LOTS more customers. :)
Posted by: Chris | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 08:41 AM
Love your chalkboard.Hope your sales are up on the 8th weekend and stay that way.
Posted by: Tammy C | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Great idea. Who could pass up New York cheese cake? :) We have a small chalkboard hanging in our kitchen that I use to write welcome greetings to whatever family is visiting with us, seasonal greetings or happy birthday to members of our family.
Glad you had a great day of sales.
Victoria
Posted by: victoria | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 10:30 AM
It turned out very nice, it's great to create out of mainly scraps. Happy you did well over the holiday weekend, and hope it continues on. What a neat endeavour market must be.
Laura
Posted by: Laura | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Looks great, Sarah! What a blessing for the extra sales this weekend! :)
Posted by: Leslie W | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 11:27 AM
How nice that turned out Sarah! Great idea, glad to hear you had good sales this weekend. What a blessing!
Sharon
Posted by: sharon Baksa | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 02:49 PM
How clever! This is a DIY masterpiece. Next time I have a creative need, I'm going to call YOU. Rich blessings to you and congrats on such a great day at market.
Mrs. W.
Posted by: Kathy W. | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 05:17 PM
That is really neat! And what a great idea! I bet that will draw them in! Have you seen the chalk markers? They leave a more solid color for the chalk. I haven't tried them, but they look nice from what I've seen. I love this!
Posted by: Stephanie in MI | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 07:07 PM
Good idea, Sarah! I like it.
Posted by: Aunt Bet | Tuesday, September 04, 2012 at 07:20 AM
This is wonderful,Sarah! You did such a nice job...thanks for sharing. Hope it draws in lots of customers for you tomorrow!
Posted by: Anna | Friday, September 07, 2012 at 09:53 AM