Then I saw this post from Less than perfect life of bliss on her magnetic chalkboard! Perfect. I tried the magnet paint before when I did a redo on my Dad's office and after like a bazillion coats it still wasn't very magnetic. I never thought of using sheet metal. This is why I love blogs. So many great ideas. So now I have this:
LOVE!!
I bought some MDF, molding and sheet metal for this project. You could totally use a thrifted frame or old mirror too.
We started with the sheet metal that we found in the plumbing aisle. It came 36"x24" so we just made it that size instead of trying to cut it. The box looks like this:
Then we assembled it pretty much the same as we did the Fake Eagan mirror. MDF with molding on the sides to hide the hanging hardware and molding on top of the sheet metal to make it pretty.
Side during assembly:
The sheet metal was glued to the MDF with liquid nails and then the pretty molding attached right on top with liquid nails and a few finish nails where the molding met the wood (the sheet metal didn't go all the way to the edge of the wood, we left a few inches to nail through)
After a few coats of chalkboard paint on the metal and a few coats of my favorite pink-Behr's Powdered Blush I have a new chalkboard!!
I love that when it's hung you can't see the hardware and it's flush against the wall!
This project cost under $30. The MDF was $7. The molding was $10 and the sheet metal was $10. I already had the pink paint and chalkboard paint.