Chalkboard Paint.

Oh geez.  The possibilities!  I'm not going to lie, after I bought a bottle of chalkboard paint, I walked around my apartment, bottle in hand, scheming which items I could legitimately turn into chalkboards.  I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, wishing against things like security deposits, just so I'd be able to paint half of the mirror with chalkboard paint (because that could be totally useful and cool...right?).

Luckily I came to my senses before something serious happened.....like before I started painting my face or my cat or something else catastrophic.  In any case, I settled for painting a mug that I picked up at Goodwill for $.50.   That way, if I decided it didn't work out well, it was only a $.50 mug that got ruined and not.....my bathroom mirror or my face.


Materials you're going to need:

Paint palette, paintbrush, cheap mug, Martha Stewart Crafts Chalkboard paint in black.

Materials with a cat option added.

1. Chalkboard Paint.  There are a couple of options that you've got here.  At Michael's, there were two main types of chalkboard paint:  spray paint or conventional paint, both in black or green.  I chose Martha Stewart conventional chalkboard paint simply because it was specifically a multi-surface paint.  I plan on doing some experimenting with the other varieties, which, of course, I will post about.
2. Mug.  Cheap mug from Goodwill.  
3. Soft paint brush.  Make sure this brush is SOFT.  I didn't really think about this as I was doing this project (big surprise there), but a stiffer bristled brush will not evenly coat the paint.  Go for a water color brush, or perhaps a sponge brush.
4. Painter's tape.  I thought regular masking tape would work just as well.  False.  Painters tape will leave a cleaner edge.  The masking tape was kind of a mess...you'll see.

 







Okay, got all that?  Here's what you do:

• Starting with a clean, dry mug, tape off the areas of the mug you don't want paint on.  You can paint part of the mug or the whole thing.  I opted for a stripe around the middle.  If you choose to paint the entire mug, make sure you leave room at the top to put your mouth on - I really don't think this paint is food safe.  And, for heaven's sake, do a better job than me when you're taping up your mug.  This looks like I did it blind folded. 
• Once you've got your mug taped, start painting!  Apply the paint in thin, even coats, allowing it to dry after each coat.  

• After your last coat of paint, carefully peel off the painter's tape.  If you look closely at the mug, you can see ridges in the paint because I didn't use a soft paintbrush.  Also, the edges aren't exactly uniform and even.  Stop being a perfectionist, you say?  Well, setting perfectionism aside, if your edges aren't clean, it's more likely the paint will chip.  Aaaand, ridges in the chalkboard part make the mug harder to write on.  Just sayin'. 

• Before you write on the mug, you're supposed to "season" it with chalk?  I'm not really sure what that does, exactly, but that's what the directions on the paint bottle said to do, so that's what I did.

• Yay!  A chalkboard mug!  

Considerations and Disclaimers:

Okay, so, look.  This paint?  It's cool, but it's probably not food safe, dishwasher safe, etc, etc.  Don't let your child, dog, cat, lizard, whatever - don't let them lick this mug or anything.  Apparently there is a water-based, nontoxic variety of chalkboard paint that is probably food safe (and is also microwave and dishwasher safe), I was just too lazy and impatient to order it online.  I fully plan on using this mug like normal, but I'm stupid like that sometimes.  Click here for more info about the nontoxic variety of paint, as well as where I got this sweet project idea. 


Excited as I am about this stuff?  Click here for other projects that you could do with chalkboard paint (and I probably will, eventually).  If nothing else, I have an old frame that I plan on repurposing into a chalkboard that I'll post about.  But the link provides some very cool, very brave ideas for turning stuff into chalkboards.


Did this inspire you to chalkboard it up?  Do you have something you'd like to turn into a chalkboard?  Let me know what you did (or are planning to do)!


Happy painting!