{diy} chalkboard calendar

Sometimes in the Champ household we have minor miscommunications...and occasionally there has been more than minor miscommunications.  The most recent event such as this, motivated me to bring an end to these scheduling conflicts!  So I decided I needed a calendar in the kitchen.  A BIG one preferably.  So instead of buying one... I of course decided to be difficult and make one.  So I hit up Pinterest for inspiration and found this Martha Stewart calendar:

See Martha's tutorial on her website here.

I really liked it but I wouldn't be putting it straight on my wall.  If I was going to make something like this, I want to be able to take it with me if I ever moved, or if I just decided to change its location.  So I informed Caleb of my plan, he let out a big sigh {knowing he would somehow be dragged in}, and I got started! :)

First I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a large empty frame.  Of course I used a 40% off coupon to knock down the price.  It was originally black, but I liked the frame itself, so I decided to spray paint it.  I used a Rustoluem color called "Heirloom White."

Then I measured the inside of the frame and we cut a piece of drywall {we had a few big pieces leftover from previous projects} to the appropriate size that would fit inside the frame.  Then I primed it with plain white primer and rolled on, with a foam roller, a base coat of the black chalkboard paint.  Martha's tutorial for the calendar has another link for making custom color chalkboard paint - you can find that here.  Basically its as easy as adding 2 Tbsp of unsanded grout to whatever color latex paint you want.  In my case I wanted white to mix with the black, so I added the grout to my primer.  

Next I carefully measured out my squares for the calendar and marked them with a pencil.  My squares for the calendar were 3.25 x 3.25 inches.  Next, I used the guide from Martha's tutorial to establish the pattern for the colors I would use {I used four colors like her tutorial, you could also use two colors and do a checkerboard pattern} and labeled the squares with pencil. 

I decided to paint my lightest color first, I think for me these boxes were labeled letter "D".  Starting with the lightest color was nice because from then on out I only had to add the black chalkboard paint to make my next darkest color.

So I mixed up my primer and grout {only needed the 1 cup, it was more than enough}.  Its a little difficult to get all the clumps out.  I may or may not have used by handheld kitchen mixer... {I cleaned it really well though after!}  Then I added a little bit of the black until I got it the light gray color I wanted.  Then I started painting! I used the foam roller again to paint, it fit nicely into my squares.  Here's my progress after two colors.  Just remember that this project does drag on for a while because after you paint one color, remove the tape {while the paint is still wet}, let it dry and hour or more and then tape off the next color.  Also each color probably had about 3 coats... sometimes I would give it about 10-15 minutes to set up before doing my final coat for that color. So its not difficult but a little time consuming with starting and stopping.

Progress after two colors.

Tape removed after the two colors.

So rinse and repeat... 

When I had done my 3 shades of gray {no references to the book here!} I went ahead and did a layer of black even though my background was black.  I needed to cover my pencil markings, plus I needed to even out the calendar because the other squares stuck up a little from the layers of paint.

And here it is with all the colors!

And on display in my kitchen! 

We attached it to the frame using flat, metal brackets that easily screw into either side.  And the hubby hung it for me. :)

 It's hanging over my favorite piece of furniture of my house, and antique glass door cabinet that I got at the Rivermarket antique store downtown.  The creamy white color of each go together nicely.

No more miscommunication in this house ever again!  Well... close to that hopefully!