Today, we have another guest blogger sharing an awesome “why didn’t I think of that” idea! Thanks so much to Consie, from Atop Serenity Hill, for guest posting here!
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Hi everyone! I’m Consie and I blog over at Atop Serenity Hill about face and body painting, cake decorating, photography and anything else that comes along on my creative journey. I am excited to be here today (thanks, Shannah!) to share my Foamcore Chalkboard with you!
I’m a fairly new blogger and staying organized with posts and ideas is a huge goal! I’m also slightly obsessed with my stats. So I decided to make a chalkboard for my craft space that would help me keep track of all those things and be a huge, physical reminder to keep up with my daily blog goals.
The biggest obstacle in having a large chalkboard was the wall on which I wanted to put it. We live in a rental with old plaster walls that fall apart if you try to put nails or hooks into them. We also don’t want to repaint when we leave. This meant I couldn’t paint the chalkboard directly on the wall and I couldn’t hang anything heavier than a command hook could hold. My solution? Foamcore!
I was introduced to this clear chalkboard coating by the ladies at Lolly Jane. As the bottle states, “It transforms everyday surfaces into a chalkboard.” I figured, why not try it on a piece of colored foamcore. The coating takes two coats, one horizontal, one vertical, with an hour to dry in between. I used a small foam roller to apply to keep it from having brush strokes. After letting it sit for 24 hours, I “conditioned” the foamcore by lightly rubbing a piece of white chalk over the entire piece. The bonus to using green foamcore was that now it looked like an old school chalkboard or scoreboard!
The next step for my chalkboard was to divide it up into the sections to keep all my thoughts organized. I used my stash of Washi tape (by stash I mean 5 rolls!!) to add a border to the foamcore and then mark off all the grids. I printed out labels for each section using a full size clear label I have from Avery but you can use any labeling tool you have. The social icons are the ones I use on my blog.
The brain dump section is my favorite since it helps me empty my brain every time an idea pops in!
I plan to update my number of followers for all the social sites and pageviews at the beginning of each week. That way I know where to put in a little extra effort if the numbers haven’t changed much.
To hang my new chalkboard, I decided to use a piece of burlap I had on hand. I hot glued the burlap so it wouldn’t have any frayed edges and then hot glued it to the back of the foamcore. And yes, I did Washi tape the hook!! I’ll be sharing the how-to for the chalk holder on my blog in a upcoming post, so make sure to check back for that!
I am so happy with the way this project came out, especially the unexpected bonus of having a bit of a retro feel to it with the way the green chalkboard looks. It is lightweight enough that I won’t ruin my walls and I can also pop it off the wall to write on it if need be!
Thanks for letting me share my foamcore chalkboard with you today! You might also like to check out my Washi tape flowers side table or try your hand at one of my face painting tutorials (here, here & here). If you like to be social, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter! ~Consie
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Isn’t that such a fantastic idea? I can’t wait to implement something like that in my own craft space once it gets cleaned up 🙂
Consie @ Atop Serenity Hill says
Thanks for having me, Shannah!
Shannah Coe says
Thanks so much for sharing this awesome project with my readers. So happy to have you as a guest blogger.
Dawn Bauer says
Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Shannah Coe says
Isn’t this a great idea?! I only wish I had thought of it 😉
Lolly Jane says
That chalkboard clear coating is my bestie (;
Shannah Coe says
I am so in love with the chalkboard clear coating. It is awesome.
brandon stapper says
Looks like a fun project, thank you!
Richland Siding Contractors says
This is such a clever idea to create a DIY chalkboard out of foamcore! I love how you used washi tape to create sections for different categories. It seems like a great way to stay organized and keep track of your blog ideas.
Have you found the foamcore chalkboard to be durable? I’m curious how well it holds up to regular use with chalk.