This post is a little overdue! I totally forgot that some of you wanted our easy chalkboard tutorial on how we made a quick DIY chalkboard for our garden space. We figured out how to make our own simple chalkboard out of necessity. Our fence seemed like it needed something in the space to the right of our nesting box. And not to mention an outdoor chalkboard is a fun thing for kids to use.
Our kids haven’t used it much because we were gone for 5 weeks after we made it. A DIY chalkboard would really be fun by an area where you have outdoor sports to keep track of scores!
We actually just used chalkboard paint because we had it and don’t mind repainting it next year if it looks bad. Or you could use exterior flat latex enamel, the flat sheen provides enough texture for chalk to rub off on it. Our chalkboard has held up fine so far and others I researched online used chalkboard paint too outdoors.
Outdoor Chalkboard Supplies-
- Pressure Treated Plywood (for outdoors)- our chalkboard is 38″x24″
- Chalkboard Paint and paint roller
- 1×2 select pine- we cut two pieces 36″ and two pieces 24″ (so they fit inside each other)
- Drill
- Non-Splitting Wood Screws (or if you have a nail gun that would be great too)
- Hooks for the back of the frame
- Stain for frame- we used Minwax Puritan Pine 218
We actually cut all the pieces at Home Depot. No saw required!
Outdoor Chalkboard Steps-
- Paint your pressure treated plywood with chalkboard paint
- Stain your pieces of wood for the frame BEFORE attaching it to the plywood (I did it after and should have before) I applied the stain with an old rag
- Attach your pieces of pine wood to make the frame- we screwed the frame together first then attached it to the chalkboard
- Screw on your hooks to hang the frame
- Season your chalkboard before writing on it by spreading a piece of chalk all over the chalkboard
You can see above where we messed up screwing the piece s together. Make sure to fit the frame together like a puzzle BEFORE getting screw-gun happy!
Before you write on the chalkboard you need to season it with chalk. We just rub the chalk all over the wipe it off with a dry rag.
Ready to get your creativity on!
Also the best way to get stubborn chalk off of a chalkboard is with THIS. Works every time. And personally I am a chalk-snob and only like writing on chalkboards with THIS exact Chalk Marker. But for our outside Chalkboard in the garden we just used the big sidewalk chalk and we keep it in a glass jar with a lid in that Nesting Box (read about that HERE).
Have you ever made a chalkboard? We have one in our kitchen that I actually made using a broken mirror frame and just painted the back where the mirror was with chalkboard paint. Now that is another easy way to go!
You can read about our Garden HERE
Q about the chalkboard markers. Do those stain the chalkboard? I did a chalkboard wall in my kitchen & the chalk markers I have stained. Or do you just use the Mr Eraser to get the stain off? LOOOOVE the look of the markers over chalk, but hate having to repaint the wall every time I want to change what I did w the markers.
Thx <3