W.O.W.  I feel guilty. Has it really been almost 3 weeks since I last posted?! Sorry guys – I took myself a little holiday vacation and procrastinated my way through the month of December.

I started working on this project a few weeks a long time ago. Who am I kidding… I made the tags in November!  Originally I was going to make an Advent Calendar….. but as December 1st came and went, it was time for a Plan B. I have to say – I’m mighty pleased with Plan B!

After reading Jaime at Craft Scrappy Happy‘s post about playing with air-dry clay to make some tags, I just HAD to run out and buy some. She used the clay to make clay plaques with some of her favorite quotes. I loved this idea, but wanted to take it in a slightly different direction. THANKS JAIME FOR THE INSPIRATION!

You’ll have to cut me some slack on this project… I don’t have ALL of the step-by-step photos. I picked up (and put down) this project so many times that I didn’t always take photos along the way. BUT – I came pretty darn close!  Without further ado – here’s a run-down of how you can make your own chalkboard calendar!

Creating the Chalk Board

The frame for this chalkboard is pretty stinkin’ big. I originally made it using cheap Pine 1×4′s for a print I’d picked up on clearance at Michael’s for $3.  I used my miter saw to cut the boards and then glued/nailed them together to form the frame. I added plates to the back (which you’ll see later in this post) to help stabilize it. Then I used anything and everything to distress the heck out of it. The frame was painted with white latex paint, sanded in areas and glazed with a graphite glaze. For the print, I used spray adhesive to mount it on a piece of cardboard and then simply stapled it to the back of the frame. All in all I had a large piece of art for under $10!  I wasn’t in love with the print though, so when my idea for this project came along, I knew exactly what to do…….

I pulled out the staples and removed the print!  Digging around in my shed, I managed to find a super thin piece of plywood left over from another project. Late last year I snagged a quart of chalkboard paint on clearance so I used that to paint 3 coats of chalkboard paint on one side. Then I used my brad nailer to {BAM BAM BAM} attach the board to the frame. Oh how I LOVE that thing!  (Sidenote – in the pic above you can see the plates I was talking about)

In the close-up photos above you can see the distressing and glazing a bit better. Also, you can see the black carpet tacks I added to the outer edges. I love the uneven heads on carpet tacks and have used them on a couple other projects too!

Time to work on the clay tags!

For me – this was the FUN part! I bought my clay at JoAnn Fabrics (with a coupon of course!) and my rubber stamps at Hobby Lobby (on sale 40% off). I love a good deal!

I rolled the clay out as though I were making cookies. Then I used a plastic cap to cut out a bajillion (or 50ish) clay circles. Using a straw, I punched out holes in each of the circles. This part of the project served two purposes:

1. Make clay number tags for my calendar
2. Make clay ornaments/gift tags for Christmas gifts!

I used the rubber number stamps to press numbers into each of the tags. I wasn’t worried about perfection here. Hand-made was exxxactly the look I was going for!

While I was at it, I used the alphabet stamps to make personalized gift tags for my family’s Christmas gifts. I also made several using a snowflake stamp. When wrapping gifts, I added a loop of jute twine to each tag before tying it onto a gift. That way it could be used as an ornament later! I wrote “To”, “From” and “2011″  using a silver paint pen on the back of each tag.

I let the clay tags dry for SEVERAL days.  I’m sure it was plenty more time than they actually needed, but I didn’t want to risk painting them while they were still wet.

When I was perfectly convinced they were dry through and through, I gave them a couple of coats (front and back) of a high gloss white spray paint. Then I used a graphite colored glaze to bring out the stamped numbers.

 Adding Hooks to the Chalkboard

I put off this part of the project for a couple weeks. Yup… I was cranking with motivation and then I hit a WALL. Please tell me I’m not the only one that happens to!

Huge thanks go out to my Mom because the clear quilt cutting guide she bought me years ago turned out to be a LIFE-SAVER.

First I started out by laying out the tags on the board to get an idea of the spacing. Then I stretched out a tape measurer and decided on exact spacing. I found the center vertical line and marked that row first. I used my handy-dandy little level to draw lines horizontally.  Then I measured (with the quilt guide) and marked each individual hook location.

I hammered a small nail into each marked spot and then hand-twisted THIRTY-FIVE hooks into the holes. Yowch… my right thumb was angry with me when it was all said and done. BUT – seeing those tags hanging on the board helped me to push forward and get it over with.

 The Big Whoopsie

Sometimes… free isn’t always better.  I was SO excited that I had a thin piece of plywood big enough to make my chalkboard surface. I never thought about the fact that I’d have 35 pokey, scratchy hooks sticking through the back. Bah. Think Dana… THINK!

Back to my scrap pile, I dug around for some scrap pieces of plywood that I could glue/nail to the back of my frame to create enough of a gap between the frame and the wall.  I don’t have a photo of this step (SO SORRY), but you can avoid this all together if you make your own by simply using a thicker piece of plywood. Whoops!

…and with that mishap patch-’em-up repair, my calendar was ready to hang on the wall!

The Big Reveal

After weeks of working tirelessly procrastinating endlessly, I’m so super excited to show you……

In the photo above… I have to explain. That big gap to the right was once occupied by a tall chest of drawers. I gifted the piece to my sister for her baby’s room and am currently shopping for something new (aka old) to refinish. In the meantime, I live with the big vast gap of nothingness. Also, the random leafy thing above used to perfectly frame the TV when it sat on the chest. It was originally one of those brass pieces that likely originated from Home Interiors. I scooped it up at a thrift store for a buck and spray painted it black.

I love the way the tags turned out. Smitten might be a good word for it.    I can’t wait to use this chalkboard to track things in the new year!

Hope you had a wonderful Holiday and are gearing up for 2012!

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