Metal Tray Chalkboard

After running into this pin on Pinterest, I decided to make my own chalkboard from a metal tray. Although you can paint on almost anything using chalkboard paint, the bonus to using a metal pan is that it's magnetic as well so you can stick notes to it.  I made one of these for my mom for Mother's Day (card and a gift in one!). Here is the instructions for the version that I made for myself:

1. Supplies: metal tray (I got mine from Goodwill for about a $1 each. Make sure that it's made of steel if you want it to be magnetic. I ran around Goodwill looking for a magnet to check the trays and ended up using the magnetic clasp of a purse!), chalkboard paint, painters tape, foam brush.

2. Clean and prep your tray. I recommend taping the edges. I was unable to tape the one that I made for myself because of the scalloped edges and it was much more difficult to clean up. Paint your first layer of paint. This layer won't look very good because the paint does not stick to metal very well so don't worry if it looks streaky, just try to even it out as much as possible and don't leave any big puddles.

3. Wait at least one hour for your first layer to dry then add as many as you need to make the surface opaquely covered. I did 3 layers letting each dry for at least one hour between. If the paint is not dry before you start painting the next layer, the paint will smudge and become bumpy.

4. Once your layers are done and dried, run a knife around the edge of the tape before peeling it off. I learned the hard way that sometimes the tape tries to take some of the paint with it and creates a ragged edge if you do not cut it first.  Condition your board for drawing by covering it with chalk and wiping it clean.

Now have fun drawing!

Here is the board that I made for my household (we call ourselves The Nook):

The shape of my tray was really unique and it happened to fit our welcome sign perfectly so, I might leave it and make another just for drawing on. I love this one too much to erase it!

For tips on chalkboard drawing read this blog post here

Stay crafty,