Sunshine Bride: DIY: Blackboards

I kept reading in Bride's Magazine and Martha Stewart Weddings that blackboards were all the rage for weddings. We wanted to incorporate blackboards at our wedding but did not want to pay for pre-made ones and all the magazines suggested making blackboards yourself. Well, what the magazines fail to tell you is exactly how much making your own blackboards is and how much time it takes. So I thought I would actually lay it all out there for everybody.

We decided to make blackboards for 1) the guest seating chart, 2) the dinner menu, 3) the drink menu, 4) the cigar bar, and 5) & 6) "Mr" and "Mrs" blackboards that hung on our chairs at the wedding.

To complete all of this we first went down to our local Home Depot.
We went to the lumber section and found a large 72inch x 48inch sheet of wood.
When choosing your wood make sure that the grain is smooth enough that you can paint over but that the wood is thick enough that it can stand up on its own and not morph.
Take your huge board and go back to the "cutting" section. A lovely Home Depot worker will happily chop that sucker into any sizes you want. Thank goodness our poor helper was willing to hang in with us while we decided the dimensions of the 6 different cuts that we needed. *Make sure you know the dimensions of your cuts before you arrive.*
Make sure to pick up some sand paper if your wood boards are not very smooth.
Next, go over to the paint section and find yourself a small can of primer.
Then go and find the "chalkboard" or "blackboard" paint.

While you're in the section, don't forget that you will also need a tray to hold your paint as well as a paint roller.
Lastly you will need to decide how you want to write on your blackboards. Traditional chalk that can smudge or rub off or one of the new fancy chalkboard pens (used by Starbucks and large grocery stars) that will not wipe off unless wiped with a wet rag. We chose to use the chalkboard pens and we loved them! I read rumors that you can find them at Michael's craft store every blue moon and we did end up looking them up on www.chalkink.com which had reasonable prices and a huge selection of colors and sizes of pen tip but we did not have enough time to have them shipped to us. So instead we went down to our local art supply store and found the pens for $3.99 a piece (we bought 2).

Next came the actual work. Another thing the magazines fail to mention is how long it takes to make blackboards but I'm gonna tell ya. When we made our blackboards we ended up working outside so they would dry faster. We worked on cardboard in the driveway and 2 sawhorses.

So first E sanded down the boards then handed them to me to be wiped down with paper towels to remove any residue (15 minutes) then E primed each board and allowed them to dry for 30 minutes then I began to roll on the chalkboard paint. Make sure you read the back of the can because we were surprised to find out that they suggested 2-3 coats while giving each coat at least 1 hour to dry. Thankfully we found out that it does not take 1 hour for each coat to dry but that may have been because we were working outside in August. Luckily I figured out a system where if I really spent my time painting each board with long strokes then by the time I finished the last board I could loop back around to the first board for a second coat, make the loop again, and do a third coat. *Make sure that you paint all parts of the board that will be visible to guests. This includes the edges top, bottom, left and right sides. Even do the back if it will be visible to guests.*
Another thing to make sure you are aware of: You cannot use chalk on the boards for 24 hours after painting them. So make sure that this DIY is not last minute.

Materials and Cost:
Large board of wood: $8.48
Primer: $6.97
Chalkboard Paint: $9.98
Paint Tray: $1.54
Paint Rollers: $3.68
Chalkboard Pens: 2 for $7.98
Total: $38.63 and about 6-7 hours of work

Now for the fun part! Pictures!