DIY Project: Chalkboard Menu.

I have wanted a chalkboard wall menu in my kitchen for quite a while, with the dual purpose of meal planning, as well as to avoid the nightly "what's for dinner?" questions. As always, I had a pretty specific idea in my mind.

The easiest solution to create what I was looking for, would have been painting it straight onto the wall, using chalkboard paint. However, since we're renting, that was not an option. So instead I began searching for large chalkboards online. 1st stop: Etsy. Quickly, I found great framed chalkboards, like this one, and this one, but it wasn't quite what I had in mind. Besides, I didn't really like the price tags... Honestly, $150 for a homemade chalkboard in a vintage frame, which probably cost 1/4 of that to put together! Caaa-Ching! Somebody is obviously raking in the cash. All I could think was (a) "you cannot be serious?", and (b) "I should start a chalkboard business".

Then I stumbled upon Simple Shapes, a lovely Etsy shop, selling vinyl wall decals. Their Weekly Planner was VERY similar to the vision in my mind.

Image Source: Simple Shapes Etsy Shop

Using vinyl decals would give me the painted on look that I was looking for, while still being removable, and shave at least $100 off the price tag. However, I wanted plain panels, without the cut-out weekday labels Simple Shapes was selling. So, I figured I could make my own. With that in mind, I went looking for plain vinyl decals.

I found these Wallies Peel & Stick Chalkboard sheets, which looked pretty much identical to the Simple Shapes version, sans the weekday cut-outs and the top lettering. And they were $16 for 4, with free shipping (Yay for Amazon Prime!). The letters, also removable vinyl, were $10.

I ordered 2 packages (of 4) vinyl chalkboard panels, and 1 package of vinyl press-on letters. Although, I was a bit worried that they would be flimsy, fall off, or be difficult to write on with chalk & chalk ink pen, especially on our slightly textured walls. My supplies arrived 2 days later (Another yay for Amazon Prime!), and much to my relief, the panels didn't appear flimsy, or cheap. They tested well with both chalk and chalk ink pens, they erased well, and the letter looked even better than I had hoped.

A couple of minutes after I ripped open the box they came in, I already had applied all the panels onto my wall. I didn't measure when positioning them, instead just slammed them up, estimating the position of the 1st piece, using the doorframe of the pantry that is 1/2 foot to the left of it (out of frame) to make sure it was straight. Then I used that piece to position the next piece one, and so on. I added the letters above, and the entire application took about 2 minutes.

Super easy!

Here is my new chalkboard menu:

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and they work well. I've literary been using this thing every single day since I got it. As an additional bonus, when I added it all up, I realized I actually saved a few bucks by doing it myself.

Price Comparison:

Buy:

Simple Shapes Weekly Planner - $54

Simply Shapes shipping - $12

Total: $68

DIY:

2 x Wallies Peel & Stick Chalkboard - $16.08 ea = $32.16

Press-On Removable 6" Vinyl Letters - $10.54

Shipping - $0.00

Total: $42.70