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I am neither crafty nor artistic. My handwriting is neat but mannish, I can't draw and people with crafting rooms scare me. But like most most other women I am addicted to Pinterest. Because why clean and organize when it's so much more fun to re-pin awesome cleaning and organizing ideas?

Anyway I saw this chalkboard paint craft thing and thought "I can totally do that. I'm going to do that right now." And so I went to Lowe's, bought paint stuff and a piece of plywood and got down to business.

First, the plywood was too big. Enter the circular saw and a brief temper tantrum when certain nameless relatives said I "needed supervision" to use it.

 

So that's done. Now bust out the tape. The idea is to have a small space of chalkboard on the top to write the recipient's name, a larger space in the middle for "I Love You Because" and the largest space of chalkboard on the bottom for the message.

Like so. I didn't use primer under the chalkboard paint. 8 coats of chalkboard paint later I realized the error of my ways. The chalkboard paint dries really quickly and it was hot and sunny out, so thankfully I was still finished painting in less than a half hour.

Painting the space between the chalkboard sections was difficult for me. As I said, I'm not crafty nor are my hands particularly steady. I found the easiest way for me to paint a clean, straight edge was to take a sponge brush, slide it up to the edge of the chalkboard paint and slide it back. It took awhile but for the most part the edges came out clean. For the remainder I just used a cheap brush and long strokes.

Why help Mommy paint when you can swing half-naked from the treadmill?

After all the paint was good and dry I did my best to write "I Love You Because" all pretty like. It's at least legible, if not straight.

Let it dry 24 hours before writing on it. I don't know that the waiting period is actually required, but I'm paranoid and would have been PISSED if I had taken chalk to it and smudged the paint.

With the leftover plywood I made a "Honey Do" board for my Papa for Father's Day, with my little Tarzan's footprints for decoration. Even the uncrafty can make awesome stuff with a circular saw and some paint!