Monday, August 5, 2013

Monday Made It

I am so excited about my new sign! I had a picture frame that I used last year for the first day, but when I went to dig it out of my closet last week, some of the letters fell off from around the frame. So... I figured I better make something fresh for this year, and I thought a little sign would be even easier than a frame.



I plan to have each student hold the sign for a photo on the first day, and then I will give the photos to the parents at our curriculum night the second week of school.

Here are the supplies I used:



To make the sign, first I bought a wooden plaque (Hobby Lobby had them for only $2.99- Michaels was much more expensive). Then I spray painted primer onto the wooden plaque and let it dry (you might be able to skip this step, but I happened to already have a bottle of spray paint primer from some other projects I've done). Below is a picture of the plaques after they'd been sprayed with primer.


Then I painted the plaque with chalkboard paint, let it dry overnight, and then painted on a second coat of chalkboard paint in the morning. You could also buy chalkboard spray paint, but I just happened to buy a can of the chalkboard paint. Let the second coat dry really well for 3 days, then you have to rub a piece of white chalk all over the chalkboard to condition it and then you can wipe the board clean with a wet cloth and can begin to use it as a chalkboard (seemed strange, but the directions on the paint said to do this). I used some awesome chalk markers to write the message on my chalkboard.


After I wrote my message on the chalkboard with the chalk markers, I was pretty much done. Then the teacher part of me panicked that my students might accidentally rub some of the writing off the board when they held it for their photos, so I ended up spraying clear matte spray paint over the whole board to make the message permanent. This means it can no longer be used as a chalkboard unfortunately...so I think I am going to make another one just like it to use as a little chalkboard in the classroom.

I can't wait to check out what everyone else has been busy making for their classrooms!You can check out the whole "Monday Made It" linky party over at 4th Grade Frolics.

6 comments:

  1. That is super cute! Your handwriting is great! Your little ones are going to love their first day of school!

    Rambling About Reading

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  2. This looks so cute! What a great keepsake for kids and families!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

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  3. Your sign looks great! This makes me want to experiment with some chalk paint!
    Teaching 3rd with Mr. G
    Follow me on Bloglovin

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    1. I have so much chalkboard paint left over that I think I'm going to experiment with some other projects. I was surprised by how easy it was to turn a piece of wood into a chalkboard...I think everyone on my Christmas list is getting a customized chalkboard this year!

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  4. That looks great! I am thinking of making a similar sign that says "Great Work Spotted" for our jungle theme classroom, thanks for the tips!

    ~Jessica
    Fun in PreK-1 & Kinder

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  5. Hi Meredith!
    I love your 1st day of Kindergarten sign! I have been wanting to make something like this but I kept seeing all the frames but that just seemed a little hard to make...haha! I love the way you did it! So simple and SO cute!! Thanks for the great idea!

    Tess
    The Teacher and the Frog

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