Chalkboard Banner

School is officially in session here and my son has had a great first week of kindergarten.  Although he does ask every morning if he has to go again.  He always comes home happy that he was there.  With all the craziness we have had the last couple weeks, I was slow at getting my new entryway decorated for the season.  I made a new banner for the entry way using one of my favorite crafting supplies, cereal boxes!  Why is it one of my favorite supplies?  Because I already have it in my house and I didn’t have to go out and buy it!  I decided to use cereal boxes to make this chalkboard banner.

I got the inspiration for this banner from the chalkboard banner I made at The Handmade Nest a few months ago.  I loved it and thought how could everyone make one of these.  I cut up my cereal boxes, made a template, trace and cut out my flags.

I then sprayed the flags with chalkboard spray paint.  It is so fast and so easy.  I absolutely LOVE Rustoleum’s Chalkboard Spray Paint.  I find mine at Home Depot.  I sprayed on 2 coats letting dry for about 20 – 30 minutes in between.  The chalkboard spray paint did not make these curl.  I don’t know if it would curl the cardboard to use the brush on chalkboard paint.

The directions say to wait 24 hours before seasoning your chalkboard, but I’m impatient and I waited about an hour.  To season the chalkboards I ran the side of a piece of chalk over the entire chalkboard.

Then I used a soft dry cloth and wiped down the flag.

I punched holes in the corners and strung it on some bakers twine.

Then I decorated it for the season.  Using a clean dry cloth, the chalk wipes off easily.  On regular chalkboards I have used a wet cloth to make it look really clean.  I have not tried this on the cardboard chalkboard, so I’m not sure how that would work on the cardboard after time.

I only made my banner 6 flags long.  You could always add more for longer sayings, but there are quite a few sayings for each holiday you could use with only 6 flags:

spring, summer, winter, fall, autumn, love, pinch, easter, hop, bunny, USA, free, school, spooky, spider, boo, thanks, joy, peace are just a few.

Since it’s my back to school entry way, I used my back to school chalkboard printables to finish off the table.

I think it is so fun, especially for back to school!   I can’t wait to use it again and again to decorate for special occasions (or just for fun too).

I am a big fan of reusing items I already have on hand to make something fun, beautiful and useful.  Plus I know it’s something you can recreate since most people have some sort of thin cardboard box somewhere in their homes.

I hope your back to school experiences are successful ones this year!

Happy Crafting!

Liz

Here are some other banners I’ve made using cereal boxes:

Candy Corn Banner

Fall Harvest Garland