DIY Magnetic Chalk Board Calendar!

As 2015 came roaring close to us, I decided as part of my going green, less waste, and all of that; I was going to make my own magnetic chalkboard calendar instead of replacing our paper one.

This was our first DIY build project of any sort, so as you could imagine it came with its own set of oops. But it was fun, we did it together (Ben and I) and we got it done in about two days.

Before I continue I have to confess that I accidentally deleted some of the pictures of this project… so please forgive me. I promise to be less, um, efficient in my posts to come.

Let’s get started!

Here is what we pulled together. Your supply list could look a lot different depending on your desired measurements but we planned on the calendar being 24” x 20” to fit the space next to the fridge.

Supplies:

* 2”x1”x8’ Furring Strip- Pine {Home depot$1.97}

* 24”x36” sheet of Sheet Metal {Home depot$20.00}

* ½” sheet metal screws {Home depot $3.98}

* Picture Hanging Kit {Home depot $4.00}

* Chalkboard Paint {Wal-Mart- Disney $10.00}

* Primer Spray Paint {Wal-Mart- Zinsser $5.94}

* 4x1” long left over screws

* Stain- Had

* Chalkboard Markers {Amazon- $24.99}

We had the guys at {Home Depot} Cut our furring strip into two 24” pieces and two 20” pieces. That left us with an 8” remnant, Thank goodness! (You’ll understand way in a bit)

Ok, all our supplies in hand, we set up shop in the garage and started to assemble our frame. Here is where our first oops happened. I thought; “Hey this is a pretty small piece of wood, we should be able to staple it together.” Yea, well we tried, and tried again, and tried again!

Needless to say my father (if not across the globe right now) would laugh at me, probably out loud. Those stapled frames were not going to work. We spent a split second thinking; “Well once we screw the metal to the frame it should secure it right up.” We let go of that immediately and took to the 8” scrap to test another theory.

Ben pulled out the tiniest drill bit I have ever seen and I proceeded to pilot a very small hole into the scrap piece. We then screwed in about a 1” long screw we had laying around. (Thank goodness we had 8 of them.)

After making sure we wouldn't split the wood, we proceeded to pre-drill the holes on all four corners of the frame. The screws went in beautifully (Can I say beautifully?)

 Once the frame was secure, our first frame ever by the way, I went to my new favorite stain {Minwax Jacobean} I love this color. Super easy we just wiped on and wiped off.

On a side note, a very good friend of mine made me the work bench you see in the pic from a set of plans I got from {Shanty to Chic}. It’s huge and mobile and awesome. I am now, currently, making a mess of it- but I love walking into the garage and seeing the paint, or over spray, or stain drippings all over the top…. It looks like a well loved work bench.

Once the frame was stained it was time to cut the sheet metal to size. The sheet metal was 24”x36” and we needed it be 24”x 24”. So we marked our cut line after measuring twice.

 Then, my awesome husband went to work cutting the sheet metal. Also, our first time doing this- and it wasn’t terribly easy- but it was quick. 

After he cleaned up a couple rough (and very sharp)

edges and I cleaned the metal, I shook up my {Zinssers PrimerSpray Paint} can and started sweeping sprays on the metal. Something to note; the can says it should not be sprayed in under 70 degrees. It happened to be in the 40’s and the paint came out, at first, kind of rough. So there is a bumpy rough edge along the bottom, but I kept going till the whole thing was covered.

We let the primer dry over night…. And this where my missing pictures should be. The next morning I mixed up our Disney Chalkboard paint and started to paint the sheet metal. This paint is awesome. Its thick and it does a really great job. With the first coat down we moved it to the BBQ outside to dry in the sun, it was cold, but there was sun.

After a couple hours we were able to do a second coat.  Once that dried I took a piece of chalk and primed the sheet metal. I rubbed the chalk all over the piece and wiped it off! Dang it, I wish I didn't delete the pics! This was awesome and kind of complicated.

 We had done some pretty detailed measurements for the calendar part of this. I took a piece of chalk and measured out my grid lines. I will be honest, we messed up somewhere along the lines but eventually I just took the plunge and drew the lines with sharpie paint pen.  When that was dry, Ben screwed the sheet metal to the frame using the sheet metal screws – three per side. He then added the picture hanging hardware to the back And Voila! Magnetic Chalk Board Calendar. 

I had to wait a couple days for my chalk board markers to arrive from {Amazon.}

After shaking them up and switching out the tips- I got to work on filling in my calendar. This was fun! These neon colors aren't exactly our color pallet but its like family marketing! 

We are very happy with how this turned out and I plan on making some more, getting pretty good at it and then selling them or giving them as gifts- with the markers!

Hey I hope you enjoyed and are inspired to create a project like this of your own!

*I was not paid or reimbursed for any of the products or blogs that you see featured in this post *