DIY Chalkboard from an old picture

I am sure you have all seen the huge large chalkboards out there with the most beautiful lettering art on them. They are everywhere and I have wanted to try out to make one for some time now. 

My family and I moved to a temporary condo close to where we will be building our house. The way things are looking we most likely will try to break ground this spring. (Crossing our fingers). 

Until than we have this adorable little condo, and I get to decorate decorate decorate!:) annnd I will be using lots of command strips, lol. I am slowly putting things together, keeping in mind that whatever I create will eventually go in our forever home. So I wanted to try out making my own chalk board.

my mom had this old picture frame in her basement, and She wasn't using it for anything so she gave it to me. And it was perfect for that huge chalkboard that I soooo envy other bloggers owning. And the frame was perfect too for it! The original gold it was painted was a little drab so I painted it Annie Sloans Graphite. ( oh dear how I am in LOVE with this color). LOVE I say:) 

Her is the BEFoRE picture:

I removed the glass and backing. Than cleaned it . I let it sit while I started on the frame. I painted the graphite on and than took a wet rag to rub off some of the paint to help the gold show thru. 

After that I started painting the glass. I used rust-oleums chalk board paint. This paint is awesome! I painted strait on the glass. About 4 layers. It takes a while to dry between layers so I had to be patient. 4 hrs between coats...sooo temping!

Once dried I placed it back in the frame. I have to wait a whole 3 days to use chalk on it, so I am on day 1 right now. Once I reach Wednesday or Thursday I will  than "Season" it. I can't wait! 

And here is the AFTER:

Please forgive me for posting this corner without any real decor. I'm still in the process of unpacking.

I can't wait to see how it will look all chalky. And hung up on the wall!

Now, on another note:

Introducing my new horse! I have wanted one of these forever and when I happened upon him at Tai Pan trading co I had to have him! The original one I fell in love with was white, but I still like him like this. 

What do u think dear reader? Shall I paint and antique him? 

If so he would look like this 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay tuned for the chalkbaord all chalked (is that even a word) up!lol anyways...

~Cat