Cabinet Repurposing #1

I was recently given a bunch of old cabinet doors and so I of course hit up Pinterest for some ideas to repurpose them.  I'm still working on the really cool and fun projects so you'll have to wait for those.  But I did make Kaylee a chalkboard today.

First I sanded the cabinet door.  I recommend using a larger grit than 400 though, you really want to get the original stain off.  I noticed that the areas I didn't sand well didn't hold the paint as well either.  Maybe that's common knowledge...I am NO painter, that's for sure.

Then I taped off the center area and painted my border.  I used leftover paint from Kaylee's room decor, it's just standard indoor, satin finish paint from Lowes.

I allowed that to dry, took the tape off and started with my chalkboard paint from Joanns.  In the past I have used chalkboard paint from Lowes and it painted on so smoothly.  I bought this jar of FolkArt Chalkboard paint at Joanns because it was convenient.  It was gloopy and took 4 coats (jar says 2 coats).  This could be because I didn't sand well but I'll be sticking to my Lowes paint for future projects.

After the last coat dried I followed the directions on the jar and conditioned the paint with a piece of chalk.  Note to self: sidewalk chalk is not meant for painted chalkboards.  Oops!  It is very hard and scratched my new paint.  But life goes on.  I found a regular piece of chalk and finished the job.

Lastly I used 2 picture hanging loopy screws (that's the official name for them right?) and twine to hang it on our backyard fence.  This way we can bring it inside or place it on the front porch with a welcome message!

All that matters is that Kaylee thought it was so cool when she woke up from her nap.  She even drew you a nice Easter greeting.  :)