DIY Wednesday {Chalkboard Wall Art}

I am always ooing and ahhing over any DIYs involving chalkboard paint & finally found the perfect excuse to try one out myself!  We have a very barren wall in our dining area that has been needing a little TLC. I have been avoiding it for a while now, a big bare wall can be kind of intimidating, ya know?  But last week it hit me--the wall needed a chalkboard ;)

Seeing as I already had a large dry erase board from Ben's flying days that was just sitting around in our garage, I decided I would try to transform it into a chalkboard.  Much easier on the eyes than a dry erase board.

I googled if it would be possible to paint over a dry erase board & found out that all the prep it needed was a little sanding.  Awesome.

 I gave the board a good sanding, until it felt coarse to the touch.

Next I took a damp rag & wiped all the dust off of it, making a clean working surface.

I decided to paint the frame yellow to match our living/dining area, rather than leaving the light pine color it came with.

And now for the fun stuff :)  The chalkboard paint (which I got at Walmart, I think it was a little cheaper than Lowes).  And although it was $10 for the can, I used only very little on this project, so it can definitely be stretched to get your money's worth ;)

First coat complete!

I did a second coat (after 4 hours of drying) & then let it dry overnight before drawing any pretty chalk pictures on it.

And here it is after a little chalk-love.  I went with a Subway Art Spice theme, being as I L-O-V-E spices & well, it is in my dining area, so it fits.

And that's it. Sweet & Simple.

**Side note: Thanks to all for participating in the giveaway! I was SO thrilled with the number of entries!!  The WINNER will be chosen & revealed Thursday!  So.Get.Excited.   Also I have a BIG shop announcement to make tomorrow, so you won't want to miss it ;)