{Make It!} Rustic Chalkboard Frame

Last week I posted my very first Wish List Wednesday items. I hope you loved them as much as I did!

In that post, I promised that I would try to come up with some cheaper (i.e. knockoff) versions of these items to share and I'm happy to report that I have completed my very first one!

It's a simple one, but I figured we would ease ourselves into this. :)

You may remember these pretty, weathered and distressed looking picture frames.

I loved them. But I just couldn't see paying 20 bucks for one picture frame. That could buy me... let me count... 1, 2, 3... Almost 7 Dunkin Donuts Iced Hazelnut Lattes!

Yeahhh....no.

So I came up with this...

What you'll need:

Cheap Ornate Frame

{I purchased mine from Ross for 4.99. I highly recommend checking there!}

3 bottles of acrylic paint in complimenting colors

{Michael's, Joann's, probably even WalMart. I used 3 different colors and they were about $1.29 a piece}

Chalkboard Paint

{I also purchased this where I got my acrylic paints, so it was $1.29 as well}

Chalk or chalk markers

{I recommend chalk markers, a little more expensive but you're able to write so much cleaner and prettier with them}

Step 1: Paint your chalkboard. I just used the glass that came with the frame. If you want to save the glass, you can use a piece of cardboard or even a thin piece of wood cut down to size. You'll want to apply a generous coat vertically and then let it dry.

Step 2: Apply 2 coats of base paint. This really depends on how dark your frame is. Mine was dark and my base coat was white, so it ended up taking me about 3 coats. I used the non glossy acrylic paint to achieve a really weathered look. Glossy is going to make it look too new, but it's all about your preference! If your frame has as much detail as mine you're gonna spend most of your time on this step because it takes a while to get in all those cracks.

Step 3: Apply color #2. I used the darkest of my colors for this layer, it was called Sea Breeze. I did this in kind of a dab and sweep motion. Try to not get down in the cracks and only sweep color onto the face of the frame. You want some of that base color showing through underneath.

Step 4: Apply color #3. For me this was Sea Glass. You'll want to lightly dab this around the frame, using less than you did of your 2nd color. This is just to provide depth and that layered peeling paint look. 

Step 5: Apply second coat of chalkboard paint. It's going to take at least 2 layers of chalkboard paint to get it dark enough. This layer you should be applied horizontally. 

Step 6: Continue layering paints. Here you can continue to layer the colors on your frame to achieve the look you want.

Step 7: Dry. Give everything a good 2 hours to completely dry and cure. Then reassemble your frame and write a cute saying on your new chalkboard frame!

It doesn't have much of a distressed look like my wish list picture frames, however I love the weathered, layered look and the bright colors.

The bottom line: It only cost me about 10 bucks and I got 4 tubes of paint I can use for future projects. I would say it's a win!

So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? What would you do differently? I would love to hear about it in comments below!