DIY Chalkboard Effect Table Numbers

The chalkboard look is still totally huge at the moment and lots of people are loving it for table numbers.

It looks fab but can be hard to keep looking neat and tidy as chalk will smudge really easily. A great way to avoid the worry of the numbers getting messy it to paint them on rather than using chalk.

This is a great solution too for any one wanting to use these in a cafe or lend them our for several events rather than just a one time use.

These guys are not the easiest to make but they look awesome.

If you need help just shoot me an email, I’d be happy to give you whatever advice I can. 🙂

Materials

Length of wood. The size and width is totally up to you. I used pieces 89mm wide and 12mm deep.
Dowel (dowel needs to be around half the depth of the wood. Mine is 6mm)
Saw
Drill bit (size to suit your dowel, mine is 7mm)
Ruler
Pencil
Sandpaper
Masking Tape
Matte black spray paint

Process

Step 1

Cut your wood to size. My pieces are 65mm heigh. (65x89mm)
Give the edges of your blocks a light sand to get rid of any rough edges.

Step 2

Find the centre of your block with a ruler and mark it with a pencil.
Clamp your wood so that it stands up right.
Drill a hole down the wood a few cm deep.
Using a doweling jig will help you to make your holes straight.

Step 3

Tape up the edges of your block. This will give you your unpainted boarder.
How much you mask off is up to you. My boarders are 5mm wide.

Make sure all of the edges are covered and the masking tape is pressed down firmly. Any loose bits will allow paint to go underneath and you will end up with a messy edge.

Step 4

Give your blocks a light spray with your paint. The key to success with spray paint (especially when working with masked off areas) is to do several light coats rather than one heavy one. This can cause the paint to run and it this case it could seep under the tape. Several light coats and you will have a perfect result (almost) every time.

Keep spraying your blocks until you’re happy with the coverage. Some paints will need more coats than others.

My biggest tip for working with spray paint. Don’t buy the cheap stuff. The more expensive products are more expensive for a reason. Trust me…

Step 5

Once the paint is dry you can remove the masking tape and reveal your oh so pretty clean boarder.

Step 6

If you’re an ace drawer and have a knack for hand lettering go ahead and draw up each of the numbers by hand. (P.S. totally jealous!)

I don’t trust my hand lettering skills to I always print out the numbers I want and trace them onto the blocks.

You can do this by scribbling all over the back of the print in pencil then tracing over the printed side. This will transfer the outline onto the block for you.

Step 7

Paint the numbers. White paint will generally be a little transperent over black paint but that is perfect for this. You want the numbers to look like they are drawn (really nicely) with chalk to a bit of patchy colour is actually a good thing. 🙂