DIY Chalkboard Easel

I recently stumbled across the awesome duo of Whitney & Ashley of Shanty2Chic & love all their projects.  They've got great tutorials and such cute style!

I saw this cute easel and decided to make my own!  So much fun you guys, and so easy (with the right tools).  Mine is a little different than the one she made.

What you'll need:
2 8' 2x3 boards
1 set hinges
1 16"x24" chalkboard (you can buy a 2'x4' one at Home Depot and have them cut it into 3 pieces)
12 screws (and drill)
Paint/Stain
Sander

How to:

1. Have Home Depot cut the chalkboard for you, it's a lot faster and easier
2. Cut your boards.  You'll need 4 pieces 30" long and 3 boards 14" long:

Okay, so I caved and bought myself an early birthday present.  I'm so excited about it!  It made this project so.much.easier!  And it's actually really easy to use & small enough I don't need my husband to help me:)  I drilled the pocket holes using this Kreg Jig.  They've also got a bigger one for $140 and a smaller one for $40.  I would highly recommend this tool, I'm already trying to come up with more projects just so I can use this!!!

Back to the instructions:
3.  Drill your holes into the 3 short boards on both ends.  The Kreg Jig makes it super easy to do this...

It does all the work for you really, you pull the blue thing up until you get to the width of your board

Then you drill

and they come out looking great!

I was pretty proud of myself for doing it and I felt like a pro (or maybe just really cool that it looked like a pro did it)

5. Sand all your boards
6. Time to stain/paint/whatever you want.  On my kitchen table we used a grey paint to grey wash it.  We used a pint-size can and we only used half of it on the table.  I did the same color for my easel.  I really love the color of it and I think it goes great with the chalkboard!

Dip the paintbrush in the paint, then in the water, then brush onto the wood.  Let it sit a few seconds, then wipe it off with a damp towel.  Repeat the process until it's as dark as you want it)

It's coming together!

7.  Screw it all together!

These are the screws the kit recommended using.  It's great because it tells you what length of screws to use depending on the width of your board

It comes with a long drill bit to fit into the deep holes, so easy!

And there you have it.

8.  Attach the chalkboard. Whitney used a staple gun to attach hers, we used some screws for ours.  Either way works, just depends on preference really.

9. Time to put the back stand portion together.  I placed my middle board about 6" from the bottom (the chalkboard frame bottom short board is 3" from the bottom).

Once it was screwed together, I placed both parts face down and got ready to add my hinges.  I liked Whitney's idea of painting them black so I did.

These were what the original color was (and you only need one package)

Quick and easy to pain them (just put the screws into some cardboard and spray the tops)

Once they are dry, screw them in place and you're done!

Glad I did the two stands instead of one, much more sturdy and just a more classic look

chalkboard with screws, and those pocket holes...

see how well that jig works?  I mean, don't those holes look so professional ;)

Whitney added a string at the back of hers so it wouldn't open all the way, I will probably do something similar, but for now I am just marveling that I actually built this!

Happy Crafting!

Totals Cost: $17 (not including paint or screws/jig)

Total Time: 4 hours