DIY shabby chalkboard frame

A couple of weeks ago I got few wooden picture frames from my neighbor and decided to make chalk board. Yes, we all have mobile phones, send text messages and emails, but I recognized the advantages of the  old-fashioned chalk board near the entrance door - hubby can't have excuse now: 'I forgot my glasses, couldn't read the message.' And one of the wooden frames was ideal for that.
On the photos you can see the final result, and tutorial how I made it find after the jump.

Material for the chalkboard shabby frame:

Old frame	Wooden board

- chemicals against woodwarms - optional
- primer
- acrylic paint - light gray, black, red
- black chalk-board paint
- candle
- brush (polyester)
- triangle nails to frame the board
- sand paper grade 60 and 80
- felt pen

How to make shabby chalkboard frame

First, as I always do, I inspected the condition of the frame and noticed the wooden warms holes. Although I was pretty sure there are no warms any more, I treated the frame with the chemicals and left 24 hours. Better be safe than sorry. 

As there were rather lot of holes,  used filler to repair the wood, although the frame is going to be finished using shabby style. Now the holes  are more visible on the photo. I used water-based filler, but any other is good.

Left another 24 hours to dry, and, of course, after the filling, sanding is something inevitable. I used sandpaper grade 60 to get the smooth surface.

After sanding, brushed-off the dust and painted with primer to have better basis for the paint.

Frame was painted in three layers: light gray, black and red. 

After the first and second layer of paint, when it dried, I rubbed in wax using candle. (On the photo, rubbing wax on the first, light gray layer). This technique made much easier next step: sanding to distress the frame and have all three layers visible.

Distressed frame with all the painted layers visible (photo was taken after the board was put in).

Additionally, I decided to write some text on the frame. Used chalk to sketch the letters, then painted them using light gray and thin brush. And, at the end, to achieve shadow, used felt pen (those fo CDs work very well). Lightly sanded, to distress letters but left them readable.

The frame was finished.

The board was easier to make. Already had wooden board and just measure the inner edge of the frame and saw up the right size. After that, painted the one side of the board with the chalk-board paint.
To fix the  board in the frame, used tacks like for the original photo.

And the board was finished, ready to hang it on the wall, near the entrance door.