Birthday Milestone Chalkboard Art

This weekend my precious grand-daughter, Jillian, turned six.   She is our first grand.  We were living out West when she was born and I hopped on the plane in Arizona when my daughter went into labor, worried sick that I wouldn't make it in time to see her born.  Little did we know I had plenty of time to get here!  I got to be with her the first six weeks of her life and those weeks rate right up there as some of the best!  Of course nothing beats living just a couple miles down the road from her now!

Anyway, I had seen a few pictures on Pinterest of these milestone birthday charts and decided I would try my hand at making one.  It was one of those spur of the moment decisions that came into my head a couple of days before her birthday when I was deep in the sewing of a Rapunzel Princess dress!  I tried to think of what I had around here to make a chalkboard out of.  

All of a sudden I had a brainstorm.  Remember this old wooden ammunition crate that I refurbished and reused in my living room?  I had removed the lid and was using it on my picnic table as a tray.  I decided it would make the perfect chalkboard!

The wording on the outside of the lid was actually stamped on so that it was embedded into the wood so it took a fair bit of sanding to get the letters mostly removed.

It also made for an extremely smooth surface that surprisingly worked great for a chalkboard!

I gave it a couple coats of my black chalkboard paint.  I love how far this paint goes and how quickly it dries.

Then I brought it in the house and started doodling away!  I'm not artistic and honestly, doodling is not something I'm good at.  It actually is rather intimidating to me.  However, I've discovered with my chalkboard in my kitchen that I change with the seasons, it is really fun to play around with.  It doesn't take ANY talent to doodle on a chalkboard!  

I didn't really pre-plan anything other than having a good idea what it would say.  But I have to say that it came out super cute and now Jillian can have her own little chalk board.

So here are a few things I've learned about chalkboard art.  Whatever you are using for your board, whether it is wood, plastic, metal, etc... make sure it is a nice smooth clean surface before painting your chalkboard paint.  

(Source)

Use chalk ink, versus regular chalk.  It makes ALL the difference.  I purchased mine from Amazon - it is very inexpensive.  It is easy to write with, it dries fast, it stays; however, it is also very easy to remove with a wet rag.  Keep a wet rag handy as you are writing on your board and you can easily erase anything you don't like.  

I've also discovered not to be too picky about my "art"!  Usually the first try is the best anyway.  I pretty much just wing it and let it go and it is amazing how fun it is!

Happy Birthday, Jillian!  

And here is a quick look at the darling Rapunzel dress I slaved over for hours.  And hours.  And hours.  (You can't tell from this picture but it actually has multiple layers of skirts!!)  It was worth every minute - this darling Princess could not have been happier!

Have a wonderful week, my friends!