DealDash Makes: A Chalkboard Calendar

As a busy mom of three sometimes I struggle with remembering who has a doctor appointment, who has a dentist appointment, and what I have planned for the week’s dinners. Enter the chalkboard calendar.

There are different kinds of pre-made chalkboard calendars out there, and of course there are plenty of plain chalkboards, but I was looking for something more special than that. I was planning on giving it a prized position in the kitchen above my new buffet cabinet, so everyone could easily see what was going on the upcoming week. I looked and looked, but I had a hard time finding one that was big enough, framed tastefully to match my kitchen, and wasn’t $180. Yes, the only one that I found that I liked was $180.

So I decided to make my own! It’s really very simple and easy. You only need a few items to make your new chalkboard calendar, and you can spend only a few dollars on up to as high a limit as you would like to go. The smaller chalkboard calendar that you make the cheaper it will be, because the most expensive thing that you are going to need is a picture frame, and picture frame prices seem to raise exponentially with size.

Materials:

• Picture frame – Any size that you want that will fit your space and your budget. I personally went to the craft store and used a 40% off coupon on a beautiful bluish-gray frame that was sized 16X20. After the discount I paid around $20 for it.
• Chalkboard contact paper – They sell rolls of this at the craft store, and also at Wal*Mart in the drawer liner section. The chalkboard contact paper is very inexpensive.
• Paint pen – You can get them at the craft store in any color that you like.
• Chalk or chalk markers
• Hanging supplies for your frame
• Ruler, scissors

Instructions:

1. Measure a piece of chalkboard contact paper that will fit your frame and cut it out.
2. Draw on the chalkboard with your paint pen, this information will be permanent. I chose to put our last name at the top, the days of the week, and then a section for “To do”.
3. Peel off the backing on your chalkboard contact paper and stick it right on the glass of the picture frame.
4. Hang up your picture frame.
5. Bam! You’ve got a personalized chalkboard calendar! Use those chalkboard pens and write out your agenda, dinner plans, appointments, anything that you would like to remember. The chalkboard paint should rub off easily with a cloth and a little water, but the paint pen words should stay put. You may have to refresh them occasionally, or you could just peel off the chalkboard decal paper and put a new and fresh one on occasionally.

Wasn’t that easy? I found that it was really fun to make and looks very nice when hanging on the wall. It’s nice because you can get any frame you like from the craft store to match your decor. If you are shopping for any other decor for your home be sure to check out DealDash. DealDash has decorative items as well as furniture. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!