DIY Bamboo Chalkboard Tutorial

So, you know when you buy something and it seems like a fabulous deal and then you find out that you actually have no use for it?  Well, I went garage sale shopping with my mother-in-law one weekend and as we were leaving a sale the guy running it said to MIL, “I’ll give you that fan for a dollar…” we flim-flammed over the fan and were about to say no when he said he’d throw in the brand new, still packaged bamboo cutting board with it.  MIL didn’t need a cutting board, and honestly, I didn’t either, but it was too awesome of a deal to pass up.  We forked over the dollar and took our treasures home whereupon I discovered I’d been hoodwinked.  My fifty cent cutting board had a crack in it that had been cleverly masked by our cheap goods dealer (but at least the fan was functional!).

Now, what to do with my seemingly useless cutting board?  I could have just used it as is, but the idea of bits of food getting stuck in the crack and requiring actual effort to clean was not my idea of fun.  Thus, it sat around my daughter’s play area in hopes she would like to use it in her pretend play.  It wasn’t until she took avid interest in art supplies that I came up with a solution to my useless cutting board problem.  Chalkboard paint.  I would make Peanut a chalkboard so she would have an indoor activity for the coming winter months.

I should have been more diligent and bought wood filler and sandpaper, but with an eighteen month old, I figured this thing was going to get destroyed anyway.  My materials included:

1 cutting board – $.50
1 can of chalkboard paint – $6.00
Masking tape
Paper for masking
Ruler and pen

I was lazy, I really didn’t prime anything.  I probably should have, but I wanted to get this done over the course of one nap time.  I decided my surface was rough enough to paint as it was and just went for it.  First I marked off my desired margins using a ruler and sharpie pen.  Peanut helped.

Then, I masked the boards just outside my markings so they would be covered by paint.  I wrapped the tape around the edges and broke out the spray paint.

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At this point I was a little confused because my board felt slick, nothing like a chalkboard should feel like.  After taking a moment to read the directions on the spray paint can, I decided I’d made my coats of paint too heavy.  I did four more light coats of paint, waiting an hour between applications, and…

Tadah!

I’m really happy with how it turned out.  I have a couple of spots where my paper had gotten torn by a certain helpful individual, but those little mistakes can be sanded away when I get the time and gumption. Peanut loves the board and plays with it well, and I feel like it will serve us well when she starts learning to write and draw.  The back is a blank canvas, and if I ever find this Whiteboard paint I’ve heard about, there’ll be another tutorial.

~*Aimee