D.I.Y. magnetic chalkboard

Chalkboards.

There is something about them that I find enchanting. Magnetic? Also somewhat charming. Educational-ish things, for whatever reason, seem to tickle my fancy. Ironic, yes, since I was never, ever known for being the most devout or loyal student in my scholastic career. I do love to learn, however, and I really LOVE to teach my kidlets anything.

With that being said, I saw these 2 pictures online and loved the idea. The first one I saw on Design*Sponge (I added the print) and the second one on Cookie (which I'm pretty sure they are not doing anything else with their site anymore...I think they got canceled or something).

They were mirrors that whoever painted with magnetic paint and then chalkboard paint.

Easy enough.

All you need is a mirror with a {fancy} frame and that paint. This frame is not as fancy as the 2 above, but it's fancier than most. Weston's mom had a mirror in the garage down by our house and she didn't want it. I didn't really want to paint the mirror - it was in good condition. However, Weston accidentally broke it when he was moving it. Alright, sweet! I think that I confused him when I got excited about the broken glass. It's lighter now as well, which is nice for hanging.

Before, after the glass all fell out, with a cute little model:

Painting it with magnetic paint, coat #534:

I separated the frame from the back, gave the frame a fresh coat of white glossy spray paint, then painted the back board with magnetic paint.

The can says 3 coats should be good. Ppsshhh! I did like 6! I stirred it like crazy everytime, too. The magnetic qualities kept magnetizing themselves to the sides and bottom of the can.

And add chalkboard paint on top of the already black, chalkboard-looking board? Why? The chalk writes and erases just great on the magnetic paint. (I question the need to spend more on "chalkboard paint". I think that plain old black flat paint is just as good, but that's my opinion.) I'm leaving it black right now, but in the future I'm sure I'll switch it up with the colors. The nice thing is that the magnetism will still be there even with other paint on top of it.

Anyhooo.....

The after, in a room situation, with 2 cute models:

No magnets on it at the time. I thought it would be fun to memorize some poetry using it. That enchanting educational-ism. Shakespeare's good - 116 is classic. I've memorized about half of it. I can remember it mostly because I can picture Kate Winslet reciting it high on the hill looking down on Willoughby's mansion in the pouring down rain in Sense and Sensibility. I'm always tempted to throw in a desperate and half audible, "Willoughby. Willoughby," after "and is never shaken."

It really is a beautiful sonnet. Little Kate likes to read it. However, the only part that she recites from memory is, "Love is not love".

I think that she missed Shakespeare's point.