I bought this sign over a year ago, I wish I had taken pics of the before. It originated from a seafood restaurant, and had a green chalkboard color with a colorful menu. The original writing was done in permanent marker, so trying to remove it was futile. I decided to paint the new one black. Note: For some reason I'm not a fan of green chalkboards. Then after it was all dried and finished, my dream was to hang it in our front sitting room. At least I thought it was....until it was hung. Not sure why, but it just didn't jive in there. So, we took it down and it has sat in our spare bedroom for a year.
**EDIT** I feel so silly, my husband and I were chatting about the sign and had a minor disagreement about the original art work from the restaurant. He flipped the sign and low and behold. See, the darn thing is so heavy, when I lift it, I stand on the front side. I didn't even check the back. I feel so silly. I totally forgot that both sides were painted. Good news is now you get a before picture!
Inspiration hit me yesterday. Not sure what gave me the umph to start such a massive first time chalkboard project, but I went full tilt today. I started reviewing my Pinterest board for ideas. I knew I wanted something with our name or initial and the year we were married. The Nautical design jumped off my board grabbed me by the barnacles and dragged me to Michael's to get my supplies. Literally, true story. Maybe not quite, but I thought it would look great at our cabin. So, off to Michael's to get my supplies. After much debate in the isle I went with the Bitro Chalk Marker and pack of good ol' fashion chalk. Here's a picture of the Bistro marker.
You can also find it on Amazon here. I used the ol 'fashion chalk to draw out my grid and the chalk marker to do all the writing. This worked well. Actually, it worked fabulously! I used the tutorial by Kristen @ ella claire inspired to plan out the drawing. Check out her tutorial on how to blow up your image. Super easy!
After I figured out my ratio to size, I set to work. I did try using the ol' fashioned chalk at first to do the lettering, but it didn't look as good as the marker. My fear at first was that my marker would wipe off, but it did quite easily. After I conquered that fear, it was smooth sailing.
Looks pretty good in my books. For a first timer. Next we, as in my daughter and I, set to work erasing the lines.
Looks a little bare.
Much better.
Seems a little fitting, with my husband working 5 hours away and commuting on weekends. Maybe hit a little soft spot for me.
Hope I've inspired you to try your own. I promise, it's not as hard as it looks.
Thanks for stopping in. Enjoy the last of your week.
Party Time!!!
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