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Everything Southern & So Cotton Pickin Cute

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Owl Chalkboard Art for Halloween

After a year of seeing all the gorgeous, cute totally intimidating Chalkboards out there, I finally attempted my own.
How could I resist when I found this adorable Owl chalkboard.  How cute is she?  With her little baby owl memo clips on the string?  It was love as soon as I laid eyes on her.
First things first.
Important: be sure to prep you chalkboard first by laying your chalk on it's side and coloring the whole surface.  Just chalk it up really good. Then wipe it all off with a soft cloth.  These will prevent the words you write, from permanently being etched in.
Seeing as how I don't have a projector to make coping the words right on to the board, we're going to have to do this old school, and I mean OLD SCHOOL!  It's easy just follow these easy steps:

  • Find a phrase that suits your mood or project.  I've gone with Halloween.  You can find lot's of them all ready to go on pinterest.
  • Copy or type it into word.
  • My owl board is an odd shape, so I needed to do a little adjusting.  I used Photoscape to adjust the words individually and then taped it back together.
  • Turn your printed document over and rub chalk all over the back.  (It would have worked nice to have used colored chalk for this step.
  • Lay your paper on your chalkboard and trace the words / design.  I sharpened my chalk with a pencil sharpener.
  • Using a permanent chalk marker would have made it even prettier but I want change my phrase for Thanksgiving.
  • I added a little artwork (if you can call it that) to fill in empty spots.
*Another tip is to us Qtips dipped in water to erase mistakes.

No it's not perfect - heck it's not even straight, but for a first attempt at something I was scared of, well I'm pretty stinkin' happy!

If you've put off making a chalkboard because you're a little scared or don't have a projector either, then I highly recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and just DO IT!  Even if it is the old fashion way.  Be sure to share the link to your finished project in the comments.  I want to be able to see it too!
Now if I could just get one of these #3M portable projectors, I'd be the queen of chalkboard land. :)

Have Fun Y'all...

2 comments:

  1. Oh, how adorable!!!! I love your owl chalkboard! I was around in the 70's when owls were in and I love that they are back. I still have one of my owls that I got as a present when I was a kid from my parents. :) I wish I had known about your trick about chalking up the board really well first. I did a menu chalkboard and I wrote on it and now you can see the words even after I erased them. I might try chalking it all up and see if that helps. Just love your creativity!

    Blessings - Julie

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    1. You're making me smile again Julie! Yep, I remember the owls and mushrooms of the 70's. Such popular images. I made the same mistake with a different chalkboard because I didn't know the secret either. I loved how black and clean it was and wrote right on it. They say the chalking feels in all the little pits on the blackboard and prep it so that doesn't happen. Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a sweet happy comment. Have a blessed Sunday Julie!

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