How many of you have worked in an office where you have your name plate proudly displayed? Years ago I was gifted one by my boss but, it was just the plaque; no base. Well, I never did buy a base so I just leaned it on various things as I moved on, up, and out 😉
Not long ago my mom gave me her old name plate base and I knew I wanted it to be a chalkboard. I had only slightly different plans for it originally. Leave it to me to make a super easy project difficult. So, along the way, I scratched my original idea and started anew. It isn’t bad, not wrong, just different.
The most important thing is, it’s super easy!
Please know some links in this post are affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Thank you. Click here for my full disclosure.
Materials I used:
- Wooden name plate base
- White Spray Paint
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Painter’s Tape
- 220 Sandpaper
- Chalkboard Spray Paint
- Chalk (same brand I have)
I removed the plaque with my mom’s name and it came off super easy. Then I sanded it down a bit.
I sprayed 2 coats of white paint and when it was fully dry, I measured in about 1/8″ from the edge all around the front and drew lines in pencil using the ruler to get a straight line.
I then matched up the painters tape with the pencil lines and sanded lightly within the tape borders to rough up the white paint.
After 2 coats of chalkboard spray paint, I let it dry and seasoned it with a piece of chalk. While I love the look of the spray paint I used, Valspar, it didn’t have any instruction on when I could season it. After 24 hrs.? 48? I went with 24 and it seemed fine.
It also spattered out little blotches and the only way I could stop it was by wiping the nozzle with mineral spirits. Although it would eventually just start spewing it out again.
Here are a couple of close ups of the splatter marks. While I don’t like them, it doesn’t seem to interfere with writing on it.
Do you have an old name plate base you could use?
My Amazon Picks…
PINNY PLEASE!
Wow, what a nice idea, I love it!
Many thanks Ivory! 😉