Greetings! Happy Thursday! Yesterday I worked on a few “quick” projects using my favorite gold spray paint. My concrete frog turned out fantastic! He is shiny and very gold now. The other project? The DIY magnetic chalkboard project? Hmmm….
The DIY magnetic chalkboard project didn’t turn out quite like I had in mind. I envisioned a beautiful vintage gold leaf frame with a black chalkboard base that doubled as a magnetic surface. So, I painted my 16″ x 20″ plywood with a few coats of the magnetic paint. (I should have used MDF since it is smoother, but this is what I had on hand. It’s a bit rough.) After the magnetic paint dried I sprayed a few coats of the black chalkboard paint on top. I let that dry a few hours. I was all set to assemble the board inside the frame but decided to test it first. Was it still magnetic after applying the chalkboard paint?
So, then I resorted to reading the instructions. The magnetic paint says to use this paint as a primer and put a THIN coat of the chalkboard paint on top. I suppose I sprayed on too much of the chalkboard paint. I’m thinking they make a paint that combines the two but they didn’t have that at Ace Hardware and after talking to one of the sales people, I thought this would work. It did not. (Martha Stewart would probably be shaking her head in disapproval.)
On to Plan B. I decided to paint OVER the chalkboard paint with the magnetic paint. Now it will be simply a magnetic board and I’ll make a different frame into a chalkboard. Good idea?
The gold leaf frame needed a little touch up, too. It was missing a little of the gold paint. So, I whipped out some gold sizing I had in my stash. It is really gold and shiny so I decided to add some to the raised parts of the carved design to accentuate the pretty curves. Finally I was able to put the painted board into the frame. Happily the magnetic paint works. Not great, but it works! However, it IS pretty. And my newly painted letters look much better painted gold.
And back to my Frog Prince. I spray painted him metallic gold yesterday but if I am going to leave him outside he will need a coat of clear sealer. Otherwise he will likely peel and chip as before. I’m sure I have some sort of sealer in my paint cabinet. At least HE turned out like I planned!
I guess the moral of this story is you win some-lose some on projects. Just like you have to kiss a few frogs before finding your prince! Now I’m off to do something that is fool proof. Mowing the lawn! Hope you have a great day! xoxo Dell
