Homework {Station} : The Wall

For the longest time I have been wanting to take a wall in my house, and turn it into a sanctuary of learning for my boys. Slowly but surely I accumulated all of the different supplies then hubs and I got to work, and the result has been amazing, it looks just like my original drawing! The kids have been doing more drawing than homework at this point, but I'm confident that many a science project, and book report, will be screamed about at this very table!!

Here is how we did it!!

{The Wall}

 First and Foremost we had to have the wall make a statement! I had been imagining a chalkboard wall but not one you could actually draw on. So I drew up my plans (I do this for almost everything) I made this drawing from Construction paper :). Next I had to figure out what I would need to get this desired effect, I settled on flat finish black latex paint, regular chalk (or sidewalk chalk!) and a way to seal it all in, after realizing a roll on sealant would ruin the chalk art, we went with a spray.

Materials:

• {Flat} black paint - you only need a quart to do one wall! (mine was $8.35)
• Chalk (found mine at Value Village for .99!)
• Clear Polyurethane Spray Sealant Flat/Satin finish (2 cans @ 4.99ea)

Total: Time was 8 hours + drying time, Moola comes in just under $20!!

Step one:
Paint the wall black, if you need to tape off the edges do so, I invested in a really nice angled 2" brush and I will just go around and edge myself, I always do the edging first, and create a 2" wide edge so you can roll right up to it without getting super close to the adjoining wall/ceiling. Let this totally dry!

Step two:
Go chalk crazy!! I love different fonts, I have read many calligraphy books and experimented with different fonts my whole life, so I felt very comfortable grabbing a piece of chalk and going to town. I freehand drew, and wrote, all over the wall, remember you can wipe the chalk off if you mess up, so don't worry. I would also recommend trying out different fonts with a pencil on some paper beforehand. After you write on the wall make sure to blow off excess chalk, and draw over it again, plus you will want to leave this up for 24 hours before sealing it, then go back and blow off any and all excess chalk.

Step three:
Spray the wall with Sealant!
Open all the doors and windows in the house, get everybody out, and turn on the fan, because this stuff is stinky! I had my husband do this step and took the kids out of the house, we came back after 4 hours it was still a little stinky, but not too bad. He did one coat over the whole wall, one coat over just each word, and one more coat over the whole wall. That is it!!


Sincerely, 

Stay at Home Bitch