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Monday, February 15, 2010

Old School Chalkboard

If you've been following for a little while you've heard the story of how I placed my camera on the back of Mr. Rights truck, and then we went to Home Depot- Bye, Bye camera! The before pics I was taking that day were of course, lost. One of those lost projects was my old school chalkboard. So, I found this pic online and you'll have to use a little imagination.
Picture a green chalkboard with a huge punched out hole, brown spray painted frame, with a corkboard back that had water damage and hundreds of staples. This was my before. Where did I ever find such a beauty, you ask? Goodwill. I waited for this piece to go 1.00 for 4 weeks. It started out as 19.99. My theory was, who would want a huge chalkboard with a hole in it (the chalkboard portion is 6 feet by 4 feet) . My plan was to be at Goodwill, on dollar day, right when they opened. However, I found out the night before my daughter was having a program at school from 9:00-9:30- WHAT! Goodwill opens at 9:00. I quickly reassured myself that if it was meant to be it would be there when I arrived. At approximately 9:45 I arrived at Goodwill only to discover, it wasn't meant to be. My chalkboard was gone! Oh well, I thought, one less project to add to the list. The following Saturday, I ran into Laura and she asked a familiar question, "So, what'd you get this week." Well, I replied, I missed out on my Old school chalkboard I've been waiting for, but I did end up getting some great stuff. Laura was on her way to Goodwill's 50% off day. An hour or so later Laura shows up at my house with a receipt. "Here's the receipt for your chalkboard, you can go pick it up anytime" I seriously thought she was kidding. But evidently, as Laura walked into Goodwill, the chalkboard was being rolled out from the back room. Turns out someone did buy it, but never picked it up- Talk about meant to be! Mr. Right and I quickly drove to goodwill, picked her up and I began planning. Before I jump to the big reveal, I have another before pic of something Laura bought me (that girl is such a giver) A seed sprouter.
She picked this up for me at a garage sale- I think she paid 1.00. It has 24 removeable metal compartments. "I can't wait to see what you'll do with it," she announces, "Me too, I think" Well, in the middle of my chalkboard redo, I found the perfect use. First they needed a spray of Rustoleum's Colonial Red

and now for the big reveal...Old School chalkboard turned white board. This is side one. For this, I removed the frame and took out the chalkboard. Mr. Right and I went to Home Depot (yes, the infamous camera lost trip) and purchased a piece of 4x8 white board (I think these are for showers or something)We then glued it to the old chalkboard. Do you see the seed sprouters? Here's an upclose...
They make the perfect white board marker holders. Now for side 2 (remember, water stained corkboard, hundreds of staples)
I flipped over my new whiteboard, sprayed the cork with adhesive, put a layer of batting, then my fabric. I ended up cutting my fabric too narrow, so I had to do a twine border (I actually think that made it cuter) I attached some adorable tacks (garage sale .25) and ran rows of twine across the board to display artwork, papers, etc. Here's an upclose of the tacks and twine...
For the fabric side, the seed sprouters hold the little clothes pins (Garage Sale 100 plus decorative clothes pins for 1.00) I tried to move the whiteboard marker holder so you can see how they're attached- Yep, magnets.
Here's a sweet valentine my 6 year old made, proudly displayed on her new chalkboard.
Hope you enjoyed this very long winded make-over. My kids have been playing school everyday since we moved it in. Bet they can't wait for the antique teacher's desk I'm working on (another gift from Laura- that girl likes to give me a challenge) Love, Kelly

Linking Up To:

Make your Monday at Twice Remembered

Make it for Monday at Cottage instincts

Metaorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the porch

DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land

Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design



10 comments:

  1. Great makeover....I can see all kinds of projects being planned out on the whiteboard and notes on progress, things to pick up etc.

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  2. That is amazing! And god I remember those huge chalkboards. Of course they didn't look that beautiful when I was in school!

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  3. I was the one who had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago that you gave your card to. My friend and I garage sale a lot. You are more than welcome to come to my blog and check out our fun finds. Can't wait to go back and look through your blog. It's going to be FUN!

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  4. What a great make over for the chalk board. It looks useful and fun! You're full of good ideas!

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  5. Ooh - how fun! I love it... perfect for displaying all the artwork that kids bring home!

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  6. This was a great makeover...where on earth can you put something so big?

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  7. Oh, I am so sorry about your camera...but I LOVE this project! Absolutely adorable! :)

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  8. What a fantastic make over! I wish I could have seen the originals.

    Thank you so much for linking up with the Talented Tuesday link party at My Frugal Family, which is hosted every Tuesday. Please feel free to stop back in every week and post your newest projects!

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  9. So where are you selling these treasures? I need to see this stuff in person! I need a truck!

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