DIY Giant Chalkboard Prints

A few weeks ago I hosted the triple baby shower bonfire & barbecue. One of the biggest hits of the entire party was the huge faux chalkboard prints that I made for each of the mamas-to-be.

For the shower we had asked guests to bring a pack of diapers for each mama. So that guests knew which mama’s wagon they were putting their gifts into,  I just propped the prints on the back of wagon.

I made these the night before the shower, and they were such a hit I wanted to share how I did it! I started by using a free “chalkboard background” and imported it into Picasa. Then I used a fun font to write the baby’s name and verse. Here’s a good tutorial on how I did that. Then I just uploaded the print to Staples.com as an engineer print. I only paid about $4 for each 2’x3′ poster!

After the posters arrived (the day before the shower), I got a 4’x8′ piece of MDF and with Matt’s help cut them down to three pieces that were 32″x44″. This meant there was a 4″ border around the whole print. Then I painted the boards with leftover Glidden “banana peel” yellow paint from the boys old room. Once that was dry I just used Loctite spray to roll the print onto the board.

These were SO simple to make, and could be made for SO many different occasions! I can see doing them again for birthday parties, cheap decor, even for holiday decorations!