Chalkboard Pedestal Frames (she: Lori)

Hi! I’m Lori, a stay-at-home mom, wife, Room Mom, volunteer, cook, housekeeper, crafter, decorator and blogger at Mud Pie Studio. One of my favorite things to do is look through home decorating catalogs and try to create the look for less. I also love creating budget-friendly crafts and sharing them on my blog.

Today, I’m sharing my tutorial on how I made some chalkboard pedestal frames.

I started with a package of candle cups purchased here and some simple frames.

The first thing I did was take apart all the frames. Keep the parts for later.

Using wood glue, I stacked up 2-3 candle cups to get the various heights,

and then glued them together.

Next I painted the frames with a creamy Heirloom White,

and glazed them with Ralph Lauren’s smoke glaze.

I used a sponge brush to paint on the glaze and wiped it off with a paper towel. This leaves some glaze in the grooves of the frames for the aged look.

I did the same painting and glazing with the candle cups.

No picture (sorry) but I also painted and glazed the round wooden discs which became the “base” of the chalkboard holders (see first pic). I purchased my 4 inch round wooden discs from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Any smaller wooden shape would work just fine!

Next, I took off the easel and hardware from the back of the frames. (Keep the thick cardboard to use when putting it back together.)

Next, I used the cardboard (in pic above) to measure my Contact chalkboard paper, and I cut a piece of chalkboard for each frame. (I purchased my Contact chalkboard paper here.)

The next step is to peel off the backing and attach the chalkboard paper to the glass. Adhering it to the glass insures a smooth writing surface. Place the glass and the cardboard backing back into the frame and now you have these:

I wanted my chalkboards to be double-sided, so using the wood glue I glued them back to back…

Then I grabbed some books to weight it down while it dried. It doesn’t take long to dry … maybe 15 minutes.

The final step is to glue all the pieces together. I glued the candle cups to the wooden discs first, then the chalkboard frames to the candle cups.

I used 4×6 and 3.5 x 5 frames. Another option would be to place the frames vertical for a bit more height. I am thrilled with how they turned out!

I used 4×6 and 3.5 x 5 frames. Another option would be to place the frames vertical for a bit more height.

~ Lori