travel clipboard chalkboard tutorial

It's almost time for my kids to go back to school! Such a bittersweet feeling. Summer has been too short, but it will be nice not to have to come up with activities for the boys 24-7. So in the spirit of back to school AND looking for a fun summer activity, we came up with these fun clipboard chalkboards. You can also clip some paper to them to make drawing on-the-go easier. They're perfect for road trips or church, or for practicing those ABCs!


Clipboard Chalkboard Tutorial

Supplies:
*Wood clipboard, any size
*Chalkboard Paint (we like Plaid's Chalkboard Paint that comes in lots of colors)
*Foam brush
*Embellishments (optional) - patterned paper, ribbon, buttons, letters, etc.)
*Mod Podge and foam brush
*Exacto knife and cutting mat
*File or sanding block

1. Paint the entire wood area of the clipboard with chalkboard paint, following the manufacturers instructions. Lift up the metal clip to get underneath. If paint gets on the metal parts, simply wipe off with a paper towel while still wet.


The Plaid chalkboard paint says to paint a layer in one direction and allow to dry for one hour.


Then paint a layer in the opposite direction and allow to dry for 24 hours.


2. Once your paint has cured, you can embellish your chalkboard with paper, ribbon, buttons, etc.


I laid my chalkboard on top of my patterned paper, on top of my cutting mat, and cut around it. You could also trace it and cut around, but that's just one more step!


3. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge on the back of the paper and glue it in place. Smooth out any wrinkles with the side of your hand.


4. Lay your chalkboard face down (you'll have to let the top edge with the clip hang over the side of the table to do this). Using your craft knife and cutting mat, trim any excess paper from the edges.


5. Turn your board back over and sand the edges with a paper file or sanding block.


6. Next I cut my boys' names out of card stock using my Silhouette. I love this font from Creating Keepsakes called CK Racer because almost all the letters are attached--you don't have to glue on individual letters! (Man, I sound laz-y, don't I?)

First I Mod Podged them on,


then I put a thin layer of Mod Podge over the entire paper section to seal the letters and the paper.


7. After the Mod Podge dried, I hot glued a piece of coordinating ribbon to cover the seam between the paper and the chalkboard.




8. Before you use your chalkboard, you must season it. To do this, cover the entire chalkboard surface with chalk, then erase.



Later we also tied a piece of chalk to piece of jute and tied it on the clipboard so it's always handy (see cute pic below). I've found the colored chalks work a lot better on these than white for some reason. I think they're softer.


I couldn't help but get a little crazy with the girl version I made. I pulled out my Scrap Box ribbon organizer and cut 4" pieces in several colors.

Then I tied them in the hole in the center of the clip. For some reason the boys didn't want any ribbons on theirs. Go figure.

I also used my favorite ruffled ribbon technique to make the ruffle on the girly chalkboard.


That's it! Get those little ones ready for back to school with a little chalkboard fun!