Martha Stewart Custom Chalkboard Paint

Last October I "Put a Pin" in making a custom coloured chalkboard like the one pictured above from Martha Stewart. While I've slowly been succumbing to all the amazing images of the usual black chalkboard paint enhancing all types of interesting objects - from globes, to river rocks, and even to pumpkins - I'm still not ready to embrace it in it's typical incantation as a chalkboard. My vow to you was to create my OWN colour - and do I have news for you!

It actually WORKED!!! I can hardly believe it; it didn't explode all over the room in a nightmarish mess of tile grout and paint - which is what I had imagined would happen.

I decided to add a little oomph to the chalkboard and also make it magnetic. So, to that end, the supplies I used were:

1. Rust-olium's magnetic latex primer (if you want your chalkboard to be super awesome that is; feel free to skip this if you're just going for awesome though), $23.67 (a little pricy, but you can use this for many other projects)
2. Paint in your colour of choice (I used a small sample size of Behr's Spring Stream), $4.99
3. Unsanded tile grout, $17.99 (but for a GIANT sized box - 4.54kg; just think of how many things you can customize with chalkboard paint! Oh, and I guess it works as grout too, if you're looking to grout anything)
4. Particleboard (hubby found this laying around when we moved into the New Place, not sure how much it goes for, but I can't imagine it's expensive)
5. Picture frame (I used the Ribba frame from Ikea, since I had it laying around), $19.99
6. Additional supplies, such as a paint brush and tray, container to mix paint in, cloth, sandpaper (150-grit)

A tad bit costly as an initial investment if you're buying everything for the project, but I did already have most of the items on hand and anything I did purchase (such as the magnetic primer) can be used more than just once.

First thing's first: gotta magnetize that particleboard!

First just slap a few coats of the magnetic primer onto a pre-cut piece of particleboard. Do let each coat dry in between each application. You may need a few coats in order to get your desired magnetism - I believe I used about three coats so that I could use smaller, light-weight, magnets. Heavier magnets may require you to use more coats.

If you don't want to use the magnetic paint to prime your surface, that's completely OK. Just remember to still use some sort of primer before adding your paint.

The experiment begins... (imagine me bracing for the explosion;
not sure why I thought it might explode, but it's all I could think about!)

Next it was onto mixing the chalkboard paint. You'll need one cup of paint to two tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. I've noticed a lot of people complaining about this mixture - saying that it gets all clumpy and difficult to work with. So, here's a great tip for you: pour the paint into your container for mixing first, then SLOWLY add a tiny bit of grout at one time and mix thoroughly in between each addition. Voila - no clumps!

Magic time! Get your magnetic canvas spruced up with
some custom chalkboard paint.

Now hold onto your hats, it's time for the most exciting part of all: painting that particleboard with your super awesome chalkboard paint! Wooo hoooo! Um, actually, it's pretty boring. It's just regular old painting.

I would recommend painting a few coats (drying in between each coat, of course), then sanding down the surface with your 150-grit sandpaper. You want as smooth a surface as you can stand to get. For me, each time I sanded, in some areas the primer would start to show through - nothing another coat of chalkboard paint couldn't fix, though! Use a cloth to wipe away the dust from each sanding in between each of your paint coats. I didn't sand the surface completely smooth because... well... because I got lazy - OK? So there; I admit it! But even with a few bumps here and there the chalkboard (and magnets) still work juuuuuust fine! Once you're done with sanding you will need to condition the chalkboard by just rubbing chalk aaaaaalllll over it. Finally, take a slightly damp cloth and wipe away the chalk... then enjoy your handy-work!

Here's the final product:

Works like a charm!

So what do you think!?

Have you tried your own custom chalkboard paint before? What project did you use it for? How did it turn out? I'd love to check out your chalkboard paint projects so do share!

I'm linking up my chalkboard over on the following blogs: The 36th Avenue, The DIY Showoff, Remodelaholic, At The Picket Fence, French Country Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors, and Under The Table and Dreaming. Don't forget to head on over to check out some of the other linked projects!

I would also like to send a big, super special,

THANK YOU!!!

To Desiree from {The 36th Avenue} for featuring my work on her blog!!! Please head on over to check it out {here}. There are some really amazing features this week so your trip will be well worth it I assure you. Desiree even gave me this sticker to commemorate my feature:

I LOVE IT! Thanks again, Desiree, for being such a sweetheart!!!

Also, to Roeshel from {The DIY Showoff} for a special shout out to me for inspiring her to get on making some chalkboard paint and redo her basement stairwell. It turned out spectacular! So please pop on by to see it {here}!