Dry Erase Board Makeover

This dry erase board had been hanging in my son's room for a couple years and it had the word hello on it...I took it down because I was going to move it to the kitchen. When I tried to erase the word hello, which was written with a dry erase marker, it wouldn't erase at all... it was like the hello was baked on!  Then I tried a wet cloth which just seemed to smear the marker, then came the 409 and that did put a dent in it..  but still, I was having to scrub!  Then the light bulb came on and I remembered my friend Sunny and how she took a dry erase board and turned it into a chalkboard using chalkboard contact paper! I did a post about it here.  I didn't have to think twice... The dry erase board was going to be a chalkboard!

Dry Erase Board to Chalkboard Makeover

***What You Need***

• Dry Erase Board

• Roll of Chalkboard Contact Paper

• Phillips Screwdriver

• Spray Paint (Optional)

So here is what the board looked like before I got started...

I used the Phillips head screwdriver to remove all the screws from around the back side of the dry erase board.   I then took the white erase board out of the frame.

Then I cut a piece from the chalkboard contact paper that was big enough and covered the entire surface of the dry erase board.  This is a bit tricky and I flubbed mine up sort of.... It's best to get the contact paper adhered at the top and then as you pull the backing, smooth the contact paper on the surface of the board trying to be sure to not let any air get trapped between the contact paper and the board. After it is adhered, cut off any excess that is hanging over the dry erase board.

I did have some trouble getting it adhered smoothly...It ended up having some air bubbles :(      I tried to use a credit card and flatten them as much as possible but it didn't really help much.. what I ended up doing is taking a pin and making a very tiny hole in some of them and then running the credit card over them.   I couldn't get every single one but poking the tiny hole helped quite a bit and now they are barely noticeable.  Someone would have to be really close up to see them.  The pic above was before I fixed it.

Then I took the frame and painted it glossy black.  You can see in the photo below the back is still white, I normally would have painted the entire frame but I was running out of spray paint and the back side won't be showing anyway.

I put the board back in the frame.....and Viola!!

Here's the finished product! A huge thank you to my friend Sunny, who inspired me and gave me the idea to do this makeover :)

BTW,  I got the chalkboard contact paper at Amazon for like $7:50 and it's a pretty good sized roll.. HERE is the link if you are interested  : 0)