Our family took a quick road trip to Myrtle Beach this weekend to visit family, but before we left, I decided I couldn’t look at our hallway window chalkboard for one minute longer. Y’all, it still had a Christmas scripture on it. Which is cool and all…I love little baby Jesus, trust me. But I couldn’t deal anymore.
I wiped the slate clean for a fresh scripture that was perfect for spring (and really any time of year). But if you’re like me, even if you have the most beautiful saying in the world to write on your chalkboard, it can still get really frustrating to actually make it look pretty. Kid you not, I can barely draw stick people. I’m as artistically challenged as it gets when it comes to drawing/painting/hand lettering.
So if your artistic limit is stick people too, and you know you’ll never get to the point where you can free-hand lovely fonts perfectly symmetrically on a chalkboard, you’re going to love this trick.
I really love using this method on my window chalkboard because one piece of printer paper is the perfect size for each pane. I just design sections of my quote/scripture on Picmonkey and print. So easy. It can be done on a regular chalkboard too, and you can even cut out your words on the paper and play around with your placement.
Once I’m happy with my placement, I work on one pane at a time.
I rub the back of my paper with chalk first and gently shake off any excess. (Dang it. That Taylor Swift song is stuck in my head now.)
Then, I flip my paper back over and tape down the sides to hold it in place. I use a pen or pencil to trace my letters.
I switched to a pencil right after this shot because I felt like I could press down a little harder with a pencil to get a better imprint. (You caught me. I’m not left-handed. Definitely faked it for a second to get this shot.)
Once traced, I had a faint outline imprinted on my chalkboard.
From there, I filled in the outline with chalk. You can wet your chalk too by dipping it every few minutes in a cup of water to make it easier to work with and less dusty. I think the chalk shows up a little more opaque that way too.
Once I fill in my outlines, this is where I can get a little creative, as creative as my artistically challenged self will let me anyway. I can do dots and squigglies and that’s pretty much it.
Repeat on your other sections and ta da! You have a beautifully hand lettered chalkboard. You can use chalk pens too if you want to make it more permanent, but I like to change mine out with the seasons. It seems tedious, but it’s a good rainy day project while watching an episode of Fixer Upper or something. 😉
I love that we always write a Bible verse on this chalkboard since it hangs right near our front door.
Sometimes we need that reminder that God is with us when we walk out the door every day.
And it’s good for us to see when we walk into our house after a long, challenging day.
Oh, and do you see a little sneak peek of a change in our breakfast area already? Those red curtains are gone! I still need to raise the curtain rod and hem them, but it’s getting there.
Do you have any chalkboard tricks you use? Do you have a favorite scripture on display in your house somewhere? Are you artistically challenged too? My 2 year-old can out-draw me, I think.
Now that spring is starting to come to life, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more sidewalk chalk in our immediate future.
Blessings,
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I didn’t know it was this easy! I have a good amount of old windows I keep on playing with, this is for sure one project I want to tackle. Thanks for the tut!
Right?! Best trick ever! So glad it could help! Thanks for the love, Cristina. 🙂
Do you have the letters/words in a way that we can download? Love this idea!
Hmm…good idea! I’ll go back and add those in as a printable. 🙂 I just created them on Picmonkey, but I’ll upload my files shortly in case anyone wants them.
Oh, that would be so helpful! And a blessing:)!
thank you for sharing. I needed to know how to do this so much. I have a lovely BIG chalkboard for my porch but having learn to do chalk writing yet. Now I can make it look wonderful. God Bless you and Have a Fabulous Day!
Yay! So glad it could help! It took some trial and error before finally figuring out this trick too. I’d seen it done with pencil on wood, so I was ecstatic when it worked with chalk. Hope your big chalkboard turns out beautifully! 🙂
Hey gal, loving your new look! Also adore your runner and the tip about wetting your chalk when doing a chalk board! You’re such a smarty pants 🙂
Happy Spring!
Hehe thanks, Karen! Happy spring to you too! Hope it’s warming up where you are.
How wonderful! I love this!! Maybe a project even I can try! 🙂
Thanks, Benita!
Oh, my goodness! I love this so much! Thanks for the tips on how to do the hand lettering! I had no idea it was that easy. So happy to have you share this at my Creative Ways Link Party! Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Nici
Thanks for hosting it, Nici! I was thrilled to figure out this trick too. 🙂
Awesome tips! I’m searching again this week for a window like this one. Wish me luck!
Fingers crossed that you find one, Ashley! Thanks for the love 🙂
I just love this, it tuned out so beautiful.
Thanks, Gilly!
This looks incredible!Super cute. Pinned and tweeted. We are so thrilled to have you at our party. Please stop by tonight at 7, so we can see your amazing projects. Lou Lou Girls
I LOVE this! Can you please share the fonts that you used? Thanks so much!!
Thanks, Kris! Ah! I meant to add in my docs as printables that I made for mine. I used Chalkhand Lettering (a font I downloaded from dafont.com), Sketch Block, and Sue Ellen Francisco.
This is so awesome, Lauren, I love this project! Thanks so much for sharing your process with us. It looks like fun, too 🙂
Thanks, Carmia! It really is. So much fun!
This is really cute. And PS- I love the name of your blog!!!! Thanks for sharing with the Pretty Preppy Party! http://www.southernstateofmindblog.com/2015/03/pretty-preppy-party-march.html
Thanks, Heather! Love the name of your blog too! We Southern gals just rock at naming blogs, right? 😉
That looks awesome! Thanks for joining HSH!
Sherry
Thank you!
What a smart method for hand lettering! I am definitely going to try this on our kitchen chalkboard wall! Thanks for sharing at The Creative Circle! I hope you’ll join us for the party again this week!
Thanks, Angela! So glad it could help! Thanks for hosting the party. 🙂
I love this project! Think I need to try this too 🙂
Thank you! So glad you like it!
Where has this awesome tip been all my life?!?!?!?! Thanks you so much for the share! This will be a huge help! Dropping in from MUCH ADO ABOUT MONDAY {NO. 105}! Congrats on being the most clicked link last week!
Right?! I wish I’d figured it out sooner too! Thanks so much for hosting. So awesome to be featured!
LOVE this Lauren! You make it looks so easy 🙂
I use Pic Monkey for blog pics frequently, but I don’t know how to create something on Pic Monkey from “scratch”. Any tips?
Thanks, Caryn! To create something in Picmonkey, just go to “Design” on the homescreen instead of “Edit”, and you can start with a blank canvas.
Such a pretty vignette and love the chalkboard lettering – great tips Lauren! Happy to feature you at our party this morning. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you SO MUCH for the feature, Sharon! And thank you as always for hosting. 🙂
LOVE your window, Lauren! Did that come out of the magic barn, as well? Easter Blessings to you!
Haha Yes! That magic barn rocks! Easter Blessings to you too!
Great idea! My chalkboard has been sitting blank since Christmas so I will do this today!
Yay! I hope it turns out well!
Wow this is brilliant!! I do have a chalk board in my kitchen and I love to write different encouraging messages or kids birthday messages on it. But men, it always looks like my Kindergartener did it!! LOL
So I am definitely trying this!!
Thanks so much for sharing!!
XO
Haha I’m right there with you! Even my “teacher handwriting” still never looks pretty and artistic like handlettering. So glad it could help. 🙂
I totally just learned something new! Thank you! Such a creative outlet. Love it!
Yay! So glad, Diane! Thanks!
Hi Lauren,
I stumbled across your post on a Link Party feature over at Elizabeth & Co with Sharon. Just last night I hung a chalkboard over a desk that I will be showing on my blog in the coming weeks. I hand sketched my blog name on the board. Eh, it’s okay for a free hand drawing with the junky chalk I have. I will definitely try your idea.
I’m going to try out your idea for letters on my board. Would it be okay to use one of your photos when I get ready to post the desk? I will include a proper link to you with your full name. 🙂
Please, let me know if this okay. You can reach me through my site http://www.reinventedcollection.com, or email- reinvented.co@gmail.com. If you would like to use Facebook, Olivia Reinvented is how I can be reached. I do love this idea of yours and cant wait to switch up my hand sketches for something a bit nicer.
Thanks,
Olivia
Hi Olivia! I don’t know how your comment slipped under the radar but you may certainly use one photo with a link back. Thanks for asking! Hope it turns out well for you.
Lauren, I just got a six pane window today! 🙂 Here is my question for you! Did your window originally have glass in it? Did you paint the glass with chalkboard paint or did you take the window glass out and replace it with chalkboard?
Thanks for your help,
Helen
YAAAAAY! That’s awesome, Helen! My window still does have glass in it. I just put chalkboard paint on the glass. Here’s the tutorial for how I did it (but be warned this was one of my first posts ever): https://www.blesserhouse.com/2014/04/diy-chalkboard-window-calendar.html
Hope it works out! I love changing mine with different song lyrics, scriptures, and quotes for different seasons.
I have the window to hang, but I tried painting it yesterday with chalkboard gray acrylic paint. Looked great but peeled up pretty quickly as I was playing with it. How do you paint the window glass to get that chalk board look? Thanks!
Oh no! I’m wondering if it’s the acrylic paint you used. I used the Rustoleum chalkboard paint brand in the can. You’re not using chalk paint are you? Those are two different things and sometimes people make that mistake. Also, I had to wait 48 hours to let the chalkboard paint cure before rubbing it all over with chalk to season it and make the surface writeable. I cleaned the glass really well with Windex first, followed by spray Zinnser primer, and two coats of the chalkboard paint applied with a sponge brush to make it a smooth surface. I hope that helps!
Do you printables with these designs? Thanks! Love your decor!!!
I really should have included those. I’m so sorry! However, I no longer have the files on my computer. I will be sure to include them with any chalkboard posts in the future.
Hello! Thanks for the tips! I have an old window just like this! My challenge has always been hanging the window since it’s so heavy. I love your shelf idea!!!! Can you tell me where you got the black wall brackets?
Awesome! Glad it could help! I hang our windows with what’s called a Hangman: http://amzn.to/22yAHHY They’re super duper heavy duty. And I just picked up the wall hitch rings from Walmart. I spray painted them bronze though. Here’s a link to them if you need it: http://amzn.to/1o9AisB Hope that helps! 🙂
What font did you use for this? I really like this!
The fonts I used are called Chalk Hand Lettering Shaded and Sketch Block. I think you can download them for free from DaFont.com
Thank you so much! I have been struggling with the amazing chalkboard in my dining room. The intention was to write Bible verses on it. However, I have not had much success with it…until now! You are a true blessing!
Yay! So awesome! Glad to help!
What are the black circles called that hold the rope?
Hi Lauren!
Where can I find these scripture printouts for your chalkboard window? I love all 3 different ones so much. I’m not very computer savvy at all. In fact, all I have is an iPad. Hope you can help me.
Thank you so much for your lovely ideas and inspiration.
Jan Cook
Hi Jan, I actually did those myself. You may want to jump over to Pinterest to see what you like. I found this one that you can purchase. Or try Etsy too. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/60798663699498854/