No matter how hard I tried to write only about travel, one way or another the site turns into a blog about how to be a fun mom) Traveling with a child, playing, working and just a mom of all trades. It’s precisely this test for crookedness that I’ve been taking all the time lately, when I’ve taken on the task of arranging the house, and in particular the child’s room. After a trip to India, I got a second wind and started to come up with a bunch of ideas for the nursery. One of these ideas is a magnetic board for children, or rather one child and his young guests, on which you can sculpt magnets and draw with chalk.
I made it for my son with my own hands back in December. And the time has come to tell you how I succeeded;) I have been dreaming about a large magnetic board for a child for a long time. We had all sorts of magnetic construction sets that could be used perfectly on such a board. The small ones didn’t suit me at all, there’s not much room to move around in a small square, it’s boring :/
When I started monitoring this topic, I realized that large boards are not cheap at all. Plus, if you have a huge board, then you immediately imagine a school one, on which you can write with chalk =) Moreover, it’s wooden and black - classic, and so soulful! And not these scary green ones that are everywhere now. There is no soul in them, no. Yes, and magnetic boards do not have it, they look cold and are not at all attractive, but with a child it is very important that it is cozy and attracts attention. In general, you understand my train of thought;)
And maybe all this would have remained just a wish if I hadn’t suddenly accidentally found out that in nature today there are special paints for school boards. And just on sale for home use. No, of course, I have repeatedly seen completely black walls on which you can draw with chalk, but somehow I didn’t think about what they were covered with. And here, wow, the paint is exclusively for school boards!!
The idea began to take on more concrete shape. I realized that I could cover a magnetic board with this paint and I would be happy :) But the prices for magnetic boards scared me off. Then I Googled “how to make a magnetic board with your own hands.” And then I got another shock. It turns out that magnetic soil and magnetic paints exist in nature!!! That is, I just moved the brush and the piece of wood suddenly became “metal”! Well, aren't they miracles?? For me personally - miracles:) And even more so for my child, because now he cannot be torn away from this wonderful board;) Do you want one for your children? Then welcome to the cat for a detailed recipe;)
Estimate
Let's start with the estimate. That is, what materials I needed to create this board, how much they cost, and how much it all cost. I think the price issue worries many.
Basic materials:
1. Tikkurila paint for school boards (black) - 1069 rubles
2. Marabu magnetic soil - 986 rubles for two 225 ml cans. This price includes delivery by Russian post; I couldn’t find this soil in Perm. Perhaps you will find this soil in your city, then the delivery cost will be deducted. The average price for a jar of soil is 350 rubles. I needed two (depending on the size of the board).
3. Plywood (standard sheet: thickness - 6mm, side length - 1525x1525 mm) - 408 rubles + 30 rubles for cutting plywood, because I needed a size of 1200x800 mm. That is, the price depends on the size of plywood you take, as well as its thickness; it seemed to me that 4 mm would be too thin.
→ Intermediate cost: 2493 rubles*
*In principle, you can already get by with this set. Everything listed below is purely my initiative and idea. The functionality of the board is fully functional even if the three points above are present.
Additional materials:
4. Wooden slats for the frame (3 m x 2 pcs) - 60 rubles
5. White paint to cover the frame - 406 rubles. I took Tikkurila Pesto 10, but there is no point in taking a whole 1 liter can of paint, I just needed it for other purposes, and of course I spent very little on painting the frame. You can take any white one or whatever color you want depending on your room design. Small jars cost around 100 rubles.
→ Intermediate cost: 2493 + 466 = 2959 rubles**
**I decided to make a frame around the board to give it a more finished look. In addition, as it turned out later, thanks to the frame, the chalk powder does not spill onto the floor under the board, but remains on it, from where it can be easily wiped off with a damp cloth. I chose the color white because all the furniture in the child’s room is white, and with orange walls, a white frame should look much more advantageous in my opinion.
Final elements:
6. Railing Byugel - 129 rubles. I took 100 cm, but if the board were smaller, you can choose a rail 55 cm long, and it will be cheaper.
7. Kusiner hanging pockets for storing magnets - 199 RUR. It is very convenient that nothing is lying around the house, because... There are more and more magnets and they are quite small.
8. Byugel containers for crayons and sponges - 78 rub. The price is for 2 pieces, in the white one we store multi-colored crayons, and in the black one there is a cloth for washing the board.
9. Bugel hooks— 49 rubles for 10 pcs. I will still include this in the expense, because... I bought it specifically to hang pockets on the railing. But in the end they turned out to be inconvenient for us, because... because of the hooks, Kusiner’s pockets reached almost to the floor (the board hangs at the height of a child, i.e. not high), it looked very ugly. And also the pockets kept falling off, because... The hooks gave the child no peace :)) So I removed them and simply tied the pockets with strings. Now they are securely fastened, they don’t roll back and forth on the crossbar, I like everything)
→ Final cost: 2493 + 466 + 455 = 3414 rubles***
***Be sure to consider the size of the board. I needed a fairly large one - 1.2 m x 0.8 m. Plus, not everyone needs all these bells and whistles from pockets and frames) Therefore, the cost can vary greatly depending on your requests. Well, don’t forget that I took the prices to the maximum, although the consumption of materials is much lower, for example, 1 liter of black paint is not needed at all. That is, you can team up with friends who also want such a board for their children, and split the cost of materials in half.
Manufacturing process
1. Prepare basic materials. Namely, magnetic primer and paint for school boards. 
I chose black because... I really wanted a classic board, but Tikkurila also has a standard green one. That is, you can make the board green.
2. Plywood is also already awaiting transformation)) 
As I already indicated above, I took a standard size sheet and ordered cutting, so as not to cut it all out myself. That’s why they brought me home plywood of the right size. I chose 6 mm plywood thickness, because... 4 mm is too thin, it bends and it will be uncomfortable for a child to write on it, but 8 mm is already thick and more difficult to attach to the wall, because she is already noticeably heavier.
3. I sanded all the edges of the plywood. And then I started covering it with magnetic soil. 
The plywood itself was of high quality, there were no noticeable splinters or roughness on it, so there was no need to sand the entire surface. But it is recommended to wipe with a cloth to remove dust and dirt from the surface. If you are wiping with a damp cloth then of course you will need to wait for the surface to dry before applying primer.
4. Magnetic soil is very thick. It consists of small particles of metal, a kind of “iron” powder, so crushed almost into dust that it is not visible to the eye. It is very surprising to take such a small jar and suddenly discover that its weight exceeds half a kilo. Due to the metal in the soil, the mass increases greatly. It is applied in a thick layer, reminiscent of cement both in color and consistency. I covered it with a regular paint brush, smeared a layer horizontally, and the next one vertically, this way it covers the surface better. The soil dries quickly, so the jar should not be left open for a long time. 
Magnetic soil has the peculiarity that the more layers you apply, the stronger the magnetic properties. In principle, this is easily explained, because in this case there are much more metal particles on the surface. Therefore, I decided to completely use up both jars I had. As a result, two 225 ml cans were enough for me to cover with three layers of plywood measuring 1.2x0.8 m.
I applied each subsequent layer when the previous one was thoroughly dry. As I already said, it dries very quickly, but still, I gave the first layer time to dry deeply for 24 hours. I applied the next layer only a day later, and the third a few hours after the second.
5. After the layers had completely dried, I tried to attach magnets that were at hand. Hold on!!! Magic! :) 
Please note that the edges of the board are not painted with primer. I just already knew that there would be a frame there, so I felt sorry for wasting magnetic soil on these unused areas in the future. I got it with great difficulty, because at first I looked for it all over the Internet, then it turned out that it was not available anywhere, in the end I ordered the last two cans and it took them a while to get to me by mail. In general, I was shaking over this magnetic soil =))) Because I tried to save as much as I could)
After coating, the surface was very rough, the primer was applied with some kind of small crumbs, I really wanted to sand the board at least lightly, but I imagined how much primer would fall off and that the magnetic properties would weaken, so I preferred not to touch anything at all. After all, it is also worth considering that under layers of paint these properties will also weaken.
6. Well, we got to the paint) Unfortunately, I didn’t have a photograph of how I painted it, although this is surprising, because... I remember exactly what I was filming. I will only show the result after this stage. The child and I immediately began testing, without waiting for other tricks to be attached)))
Tikkuril paint is easy to apply. I only needed one coat for a thick, even coverage. Its smell is specific, but not to say that it is pungent, and it dissipates very quickly. It looks like shoe polish)) It dries within a couple of hours, but I left it for a day, afraid to try it right away =) But the next day after painting, we already drew with chalk and washed it, and everything was fine;)
As a result, I only used 1/3 of a liter jar. I’ve already figured out where else to use it) But you can simply save it and over time, if the board loses its “marketable” appearance, just cover it with a new layer, and it will sparkle like new again;)
7. The next step was to cut the frames to the required size. Two pieces 1.2 m each and two 0.8 m each. Using a special nozzle, I cut out diagonal corners. I covered these slats with white paint. I also painted the railing with the same paint. Tikkurila Pesto 10 dries for almost two days and has a strong smell. The child had to sleep in another room. But it is ideal for both wood and metal, it does not need to be varnished afterwards and can be easily washed, which is why I chose it.
8. I screwed the railing to the board below with a screwdriver, measuring its location with a laser level. I planned to glue the frames with glue, but after the board hung on the wall. I wanted to use frames to cover the drill holes.
9. So, we got to the stage of attaching the board to the wall. I thought a lot about what would be the best way to hang it. There were thoughts about hinges and glue, but in the end it was decided that we would drill two holes at the top and bottom of the board. There are the same amount in the wall, we hammer in dowels there and screw the board onto the self-tapping screws. Why below too? Because if the board is fixed only at the top, then when drawing on it, it sways and bounces noticeably. If it is also secured from below, it fits very tightly to the wall and there is no movement.
10. I completed the fastening stage with frames, which I glued along the edges of the board using liquid nails. This is what they look like up close. Can you tell that there is a drilled hole under this frame? All holes are hidden) The screws, by the way, were chosen not with a round, but with a flat head, so the frame can easily fit tightly to the board. 
11. I hung pockets and containers on the railing. I put all the magnets and crayons we have in them. 
Focus on magnets with animals from Eric Carle's books. If you look closely, you can see above wooden magnets of various geometric shapes, and even letters and numbers that we inherited from my sister) We also have plaster magnets, which we make ourselves using molds and then decorate, there also a great flight of imagination, because... There are also sea animals and vegetables/fruits and fairy tale heroes. In general, there are a lot of variations for games.
12. For example, an educational game was literally invented on the spot. Mishutka learned to draw waves and imitated the sea on the board. 
When I saw this, I simply asked to find it among all the magnets of those animals that swim in the sea. The child did not make a single mistake; the octopus and goldfish he selected had not yet entered the frame. And I told him to take the polar bear, because... he also swims in the sea and catches fish. This is how a child develops, simply learning everything new in the game.
Well, in the end, to complete this post, I’m posting a view of the finished result from the outside. The photo is not staged, sorry, but this is the only shot I found where the entire board is visible) A child writes the letter A =)) 
I’ll make a reservation that I don’t teach him letters. I think that at this age there is no need for this. But he played ABC on his phone a couple of times and this is the result. Well, again, knowledge in the game is not forbidden;)
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A slate board in the interior is an extraordinary solution. If you want to follow your individuality to the end and not buy it in a store, then you will most likely be faced with the question: what to do with paint? Save money and make your own chalkboard paint.
Whatever surface it is applied to - furniture or a special board, chalkboard paint is completely different from the green or black that is used in schools.
Our paint can be used to cover completely different surfaces: a kitchen cabinet door or the head of a bed, turning an ordinary piece of furniture almost into an art object.
Materials:
primer for latex paint
latex paint of any color
mixing container
brush or roller
mixer attachment for drill
1. Mix latex paint and primer in a container. The ideal chalkboard paint mixture ratio is 1 part primer to 8 parts latex paint.
Stir well, otherwise the primer granules will be visible on the surface of the board. Therefore, it is better to mix with a mixer.
In order to get chalkboard paint in a beautiful slate color rather than a mournful one, black paint can be mixed with white paint in the proportion of 2.2 liters: 0.2 liters (2.2 liters of black paint and 200 ml of white). Then add primer to the mixture.
2. Paint the surface with chalkboard paint. The surface must be prepared in the same way as is usually done before painting. Apply the paint in two layers.
The color range of chalkboard paints is endless. You can choose any bright contrasting color.
3. Bringing the board to perfection. To make the board finally suitable for drawing, you need to sand it with chalk, then erase its traces with a dry cloth in a circular motion.
Chalk boards are increasingly finding their use outside educational institutions. The strict rules of designing a classic school board have blurred, and they have been replaced by interesting shapes and a decorative appearance. The chalk board became part of the interior, allowing not only to decorate the room, but also to introduce a useful component into it. Having picked up newfangled trends, designers began to widely use slate surfaces in their projects, photographers included chalk boards in the list of necessary props for photo shoots, calligraphy artists began to paint slate photo zones at weddings and presentations. This creative boom has come about thanks to a new take on the good old chalkboard.
So I, inspired by this idea, decided to make a chalk board with my own hands. I just couldn’t find a special paint with a slate effect. As often happens, if you get excited about an idea, you need to start implementing it on the same day. I don’t have enough patience, my hands are itching to get to work. I started looking for an alternative, and as it turned out, there is a simple and budget option, which I will talk about in today’s master class.
In order to make a slate board with your own hands we will need:
- Acrylic paint for wood;
- Matte black (or other acrylic paint of your choice) for the working surface of the board;
- White Spirit;
- Fugue for tiles (grout for filling joints between tiles);
- Drill;
- Jigsaw or hacksaw;
- Construction primer;
- Brush and foam roller for decorative paint;
- Sandpaper;
- Ring screw, screws;
- Baguette frame;
- Twine (rope or cord).
Tip: To decorate a chalk board, you need to find a base with a large flat surface on which to apply paint. The base can be a wall in the room, a kitchen cabinet door, a baguette frame with a back wall (back), a sheet of plywood or fiberboard.
An old frame was found in the attic. The back wall is cut out of fiberboard according to the dimensions of the frame (48x38 cm, thickness 0.5 cm). Since the baguette frame had lost its pompous appearance over time, and the stucco molding had partially fallen off, it was decided to remove it and clean the frame of paint.
Gypsum stucco can be easily removed with a spatula, and old paintwork can be removed with sandpaper. We clean the plaster and paint, apply a primer to the cleaned surface. After the primer has dried, cover the frame with two layers of paint at intervals of 24 hours. All that remains is to decorate the frame itself. Take paint and a brush. Using light strokes, without painting completely, apply paint to the surface of the frame.
After about forty minutes, we moisten the cotton wool with white spirit and erase with it those places that were unsuccessful during painting. You can also walk over the surface to be painted so that the unpainted areas acquire the shade of the paint being decorated.
Leave the decorated frame until completely dry. Now is the time to work on the back wall, which will be the base for the slate. To ensure reliable adhesion of the paint and the fiberboard sheet, we clean its smooth surface with sandpaper. Then we cover it with a primer, after about an hour, apply a base layer of matte acrylic paint.
Apply homemade slate paint on top of the base layer. In order to make paint with a slate effect, we need the acrylic matte paint itself and a fugue (tile grout). Take 3 parts of paint and one part of fugue (3:1) and mix with each other until smooth.
Tip: In order to minimize the formation of lumps, add the fugu gradually while simultaneously stirring the paint. You can choose the paint color to suit your taste. If the paint is not light, then the chalk on it will also be clearly visible.
After the mixture of paint and fugue is ready, roll it out with a foam roller over the surface of the future board. Use a roller to roll out the paint evenly and in one direction. The roller needs to be pressed a little when rolling on the fiberboard in order to roll out small lumps and press the fugue particles into the paint. If you want the chalk board to last a long time, then cover the base of the board with at least 3 layers.
After the paint on the frame and on the base of the slate has dried, we combine the frame and the back wall together and secure them together with clamps. On the back side we mark with a pencil the markings along which we will fasten the frame to the back wall with screws. We take a drill with a drill with a smaller diameter screw thread, drill holes and screw the screws into them.
Tip: By screwing the frame to the fiberboard, we will get a gap between the frame and the fiberboard sheet. Chalk dust will fall into the gap (where the glass is usually inserted), which will prevent chalk from staining everything around.
Having decided in what position the board will hang (horizontally or vertically), we drill holes for fastening the ring screw. A ring screw is a screw that has a ring instead of a head. You can thread a rope through this ring and hang the board on the wall. Based on the thickness of the frame and fiberboard, we measure the length of the screw ring so that when screwed in, it does not come out onto the front side of the baguette frame.
Along the measured length, we clamp the ring screw in a vice and bend it. Then we screw the screw with the ring into the holes until it bends. We insert a rope into the rings and tie it - the chalk board is ready! With proper decoration of the baguette frame, the coated board can fit into any interior.
Tip: To extend the life of your chalkboard, use soft crayons or a chalk marker.
Using the method discussed in today’s article, if necessary, you can paint any objects and surfaces. Using colored crayons, you can create unique props for photo zones, wedding photo shoots, and signs for messages to your loved one. If you cover a metal surface with homemade slate paint, you can attach magnets to the chalk board. This slate-magnetic board will be an excellent alternative to the refrigerator door. Housewives will appreciate the slate surface in their kitchen.
A chalk board is great for a child's room. You can use it to learn the alphabet, practice writing letters with chalk, draw and develop your child’s creative abilities.
This useful note-taking tool will become an indispensable tool in the workshop. It doesn’t matter whether it’s sewing or metalworking, there is always a need to make a drawing that will always be visible when performing work. The most important thing is that at any time you can make changes, erase everything and draw again.
The chalk board fit well into our interior and became a good helper for organizing time and tasks. In addition, a home organizer from time to time becomes a message board.
The other day I took out a large framing frame from the attic, which I plan to remake and hang in the room. You will find out what will come of this in the next article. Subscribe to site updates, join groups on social networks, and you will be aware of new publications!
About the author:
Greetings, dear readers! My name is Max. I am convinced that almost everything can be done at home with your own hands, I am sure that everyone can do it! In my free time I like to tinker and create something new for myself and my loved ones. You will learn about this and much more in my articles!
In today's article I will tell you how you can make a school board with your own hands. I don’t know about anyone, but as a child I tried to make a drawing board at home, and according to my memories, I only made my parents laugh. I hope that after reading the article, you will be able to please your children with practical advice and help them build a real school board on their own. Of course, you can buy a school board, but believe me, following the instructions below, building it with your own hands will not be difficult for you, the main thing is to be careful and consistent.Blackboard materials
To make a school board with your own hands, you will need the following tools and materials:- chipboard (Size: 1999x1349x16 mm) – for the base;
- Frosted glass (Size: 1997×1347x5 mm) - for the front surface. Glass, if you do not have experience cutting it yourself, it is better to order already cut glass from the seller.;
- Aluminum U-shaped profile (thickness 25 mm, internal distance 20 mm) - for the frame. Length: 2 pieces (top/bottom) - 2002 mm, 2 pieces (sides) - 1347 mm. Before starting work, aluminum profiles must be cut at an angle of 45 degrees and filed with a fine file.
- Black or dark green enamel. You can also use paints with fine porcelain abrasive, which are more durable.
- Canopies for wall mounting
- Self-tapping screws
- Silicone sealant (you can use glass glue)
- Insulating tape for the seal
- If you want to make a school board with opening sides, you will need butterfly hinges or piano hinges.
To make it more convenient to assemble our school board, it is better to carry out all the work on a table, the table top of which should be smaller than the base of the board.
1. Place the chipboard on the table and clean its surface from various contaminants.
2. Apply glue to the cleaned chipboard in the form of parallel strips, in increments of 50 mm.
3. Place the glass carefully and evenly on top of the glued base. Second hands won't hurt here.
4. Move the glass slightly, from side to side, so that the glue is evenly distributed between it and the chipboard. Next, press the glass onto the base. Remember that since the glass is smaller than the base, the allowances on all edges must be the same.
5. Along the entire perimeter, the edges of the glass must be secured with electrical tape, and it must be wider than the grips of the aluminum profiles.
6. Leave the board for 24 hours to dry.
7. We paint the glass. Since the glass is frosted, the paint should lie flat. For this purpose, it is better to paint with a spray bottle, and for better atomization, the paint is diluted with a solvent in a ratio of 5 to 1. After the first painting, leave the glass to dry for a day, then apply another layer of paint.
8. After the glue and paint have dried, you can attach the aluminum profile, which is attached to the chipboard at the ends with self-tapping screws measuring 4x16 mm along the entire perimeter of the board. Such fasteners will be sufficient, since the profile does not bear any load and is used more for decorative purposes.
Well, our school board is ready.
To mount it on the wall, you can use various fasteners; it’s best to look at the building materials and accessories market.
If you glue a sheet of metal between the chipboard and the glass, the board will not only be used for drawing, but also for attaching various magnets to it.
Almost all young children love to draw, often using the floor, walls and pieces of furniture as a “canvas”. Taking into account the needs of their child, resourceful parents make certain adjustments to the home interior, using special paint on which chalk is easy to apply and just as easy to remove. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to paint an entire wall or cabinet. A small chalk board, which can also be useful for adult family members, if you use it, for example, for notes and reminders about important matters, is quite capable of satisfying a child’s creativity.
Paint that has a chalkboard effect is very often used for furniture restoration, making the coating matte, velvety and pleasant to the touch. Its creator is considered to be British designer Annie Stone. In 1990, she developed a special finishing material, which she began selling under the ChalkPaint brand.
Making a chalk board opens up a wide range of creative possibilities.
For your information! Given the name and consistency of ChalkPaint, it is logical to assume that one of its components should be chalk (calcium carbonate). However, the problem is that for more than 20 years the original recipe has never been revealed by its creator. Therefore, many clones have appeared on the market, created on the basis of a variety of materials.
In addition to an interesting visual effect, chalk paint has a number of operational advantages:
- fits well on almost any material (wood, wood substitutes, metal, drywall, plaster, brick, tile and glass);
- has excellent adhesion to the surface;
- has good hiding power, hiding most defects of the old coating;
- dries quickly;
- has no pungent odor;
- non-toxic.
The disadvantages of this finish include its price and scarcity. “ChalkPaint” is not supplied to Russia at all, and its analogues from the companies “Tikkurila” and “Siberia” are an order of magnitude more expensive than conventional paints and varnishes. Therefore, in order to save money, many try to make the slate coating themselves, using more accessible and inexpensive components.
Factory slate paint is available in several colors
5 recipes for making chalk paint at home
To make your own chalk paint, you can use several recipes. The essence of each method is to add a fine granular substance to ordinary glossy paint, which gives the coating the necessary roughness.
Acrylic or latex wall paint is suitable as the main component. The second one is also made on an acrylic base, but due to the addition of rubber it has increased strength characteristics. Therefore, if we are talking about making a chalk board, the coating of which will be constantly subjected to certain loads, it is better to choose the latex option.
Auxiliary ingredients you can choose from include sodium bicarbonate (regular baking soda), calcium carbonate, gypsum, tile grout, and even cornstarch. All options have the right to life, and their success primarily depends on the correct consistency.
Uses of baking soda
Uses of baking soda
Required proportion:
- 2/3 paint;
- 1/3 soda.
Preparing such a composition is one of the most affordable options, since soda can be bought at any grocery store. The process of creating paint is quite simple: you need to mix two components until a homogeneous mass is obtained. If the mixture turns out to be very thick, adding a small amount of water will help bring it to the desired consistency.
Advice! To avoid lumps, soda or any other bulk material must be added gradually.
When using this composition, complete coverage of the treated surface occurs when applying 3 layers of paint. Once dry, the finish has a fairly chunky grainy texture. If it is necessary to get rid of this effect, for example, for a chalk board, too large a grain size is unnecessary, it is enough to finish sanding the surface.
Applications of corn starch
Required proportion:
- 2/3 paint;
- 1/3 starch.
Just like soda, cornstarch is sold in almost any supermarket and has a very affordable price. The technology for obtaining the desired mixture does not differ from the previous version, the only point is that you may need a little more water to obtain the optimal mass for application to the surface.
To completely paint the surface, 2 layers of coating are sufficient. At the same time, there is also a need for final sanding, since after drying the brushstrokes will be clearly visible, which can negatively affect the texture of the finish.
Applications of calcium carbonate
Applications of calcium carbonate
Required proportion:
- 2/3 paint;
- 1/3 calcium carbonate.
The price of 1 kg of fine calcium carbonate powder exceeds 200 rubles, so this chalk paint recipe is not the cheapest. But from the point of view of the result, adding chalk allows you to get, perhaps, the best composition, which, after drying, has a uniform texture and does not require sanding. Full coverage of the part occurs after applying 2 layers of paint. With this finish you can safely open not only a chalk board, but also furniture.
Application of gypsum
Construction gypsum
Required proportion:
- 3/4 paint;
- 1/4 plaster.
The use of building gypsum (alabaster) is one of the most optimal options, taking into account the price/quality ratio. This material is an order of magnitude cheaper than chalk powder, while the coating after 2-layer processing has a uniform matte texture and, if the paint composition is of the correct consistency, does not require additional sanding.
Note! Gypsum dries very quickly, so after making the mixture it should be immediately applied to the surface.
Application of tile grout
Tile grout
Required proportion:
- 3/4 paint;
- 1/4 grout.
Tile grout is in the middle price category between calcium carbonate and gypsum. The quality of chalk paint obtained using this material is quite high, so you can safely use it to decorate furniture. As a rule, it is enough to apply 2 layers of such a composition so that the coating is uniform and has no visible defects. In this case, finishing sanding is not required and after the surface has dried, you can immediately draw or write on it with chalk.
Master class on making a chalk board
Making a chalk board with your own hands if you have the necessary components is very simple, especially if the master has detailed instructions with clear illustrations at his disposal.
Tools and materials
For work you will need the following materials:
- glossy acrylic latex paint;
- fine granular component (one of those discussed in the previous section);
- container and stick for making the mixture;
- medium hard brush or roller;
- paper tape if you need to protect the edges;
- base for painting.
If the work will be carried out in a residential area, it is advisable to protect the workspace from accidental ingress of paint and varnish material. For this you can use oilcloth or old fabric.
Note! The paint color for the chalkboard is selected individually. The choice does not have to be limited to the black option. Chalk will be clearly visible on brown, burgundy, blue, green and any other dark surface.
To make a slate board, use a standard tool kit for painting work.
Main stages of work
- You can use any material as a base for the board: plywood, chipboard, fiberboard, MDF, natural wood or plasterboard. It is desirable that the base be smooth, without visible defects. Otherwise, you need to sand the surface using sandpaper. The same procedure (grinding) should be performed if the workpiece has a glossy finish. In order for the paint to have good adhesion to the surface, the gloss must be removed.
For this master class, the base chosen was an ordinary cutting board, which is available to any housewife.
- Chalkboard paint can be prepared using any of the methods listed above. Most often, a combination of latex paint with gypsum or tile grout is used for such purposes.
If the surface to be treated has a small area, you can prepare the finish in any available container
- The resulting mixture should be applied immediately after preparation, as it dries quickly. To ensure an even coating, brush movements should be fairly smooth.
To completely paint the workpiece, a 2-layer treatment is usually sufficient.
- Drying time for chalk paint ranges from 30 to 60 minutes. If everything was done correctly, the surface will soon become matte and velvety.
If there are visible irregularities, light sanding should be done using fine-grained sandpaper.
- Once dry, the slate can be tested for functionality by making a small note or sketching a fun design.
The colors of the chalk and board should be contrasting so that the inscription is clearly readable
How to care for your slate board
Despite the excellent performance characteristics of chalk boards, they can be easily scratched by hard objects. Therefore, you should not draw with cheap chalk, since it often contains impurities of sand and small pebbles. For home use, it is better to buy special crayons for drawing, which are gentle on the surface.
For your information! The composition of drawing crayons, in addition to calcium carbonate, includes a coloring pigment and a binder designed to reduce dust formation during operation.
Do not use abrasive material or aggressive cleaning agents to wipe writing off the board. To erase chalk, simply use a damp soft cloth or sponge.
Using a soft material to clean the chalkboard will significantly extend its service life.
A DIY chalk board for drawing or writing will allow you to solve several problems at once. Such an accessory will decorate almost any interior, and all important tasks will be recorded, and therefore completed. But most importantly, the results of children's creativity will move from the walls, floor and furniture to the surface intended for this.