Scavenger Chic

First Birthday Chalkboard Sign

• By Joan
• April 10, 2019
• 4 Comments

We celebrated our first grandbaby, Felix’s, first birthday at the end of March.  And with a first birthday comes a new project.

I made several signs for Felix’s parents wedding,  back in June, 2017.  I’ve reused most of the wood from the signs  but I still had just this one leftover.

So when the couple found out they were expecting a baby, the welcome to the wedding sign now became a Mardi Gras inspired baby shower sign last year.

Felix was born a few weeks after the shower and now we were about to celebrate his first birthday.  His mama had been busy preparing his birthday party but asked if I wouldn’t mind making him a first year birthday chalkboard.  Her exact words were “this would be so cool to have on display at Felix’s birthday party!  And it would take you no time to make.  Omg you are amazing.”

OK, flattery will get you everywhere, and how could I say no, I even had the perfect board.

Before I got busy I needed inspiration.  These were all found online.  Brayden, Miles, Natalie, Aubrey, Brynlee, Callie, Sophie and Madison.

It’s fun to see how different all these one year olds are.

If you don’t want to make your own, a couple of these are available on Etsy or elsewhere for you to order  (Madison, Brynlee, Miles and Sophie).  Callie’s has a whole bunch of first birthday photo ideas.  Natalie has some more 1st birthday party ideas and Braydens includes a DIY for his poster.

I was properly inspired and ready to start on my sign.

Most of the Mardi Gras sign was painted, all except the masks, they were modpodged on to the sign.  I could paint right over the pair but it’s not that difficult to remove the glue, it just needs a good soaking.

After soaking, the top layer of mask peeled off then I was left with just the bottom layer of Mod Podge.  More soaking.  When the glue is soft it turns white.

Most of the Modpodge scraped off but I did attack any leftover glue with the sander.

Repaint with chalkboard paint to make a fresh new pallet.

I free handed most of the chalkboard sign, all except the name and the scroll which I laid out on the computer. Feel free to layout as much or as little of your project on the computer depending on your comfort level of doodling.

If you go back to the DIY Chalkboard Sign post you’ll find some possible chalkboard fonts for you to use or to inspire you.

To transfer the lettering to the chalkboard, rub white chalk  over the back of your printout.

Tape the printout in place so it doesn’t move.  Use a pen to trace the outline of your lettering.

The chalk outline will have transferred to the board.  Time to use chalk markers to just follow the outline.  These are so much fun to use, no chalk dust and they clean up easy with water.  If you make a mistake just wash off and start again…I used that feature a lot.

Note: I used paint pens for the first two signs. If I had used chalk pens, I could have started over with just a wet rag.

What all my inspiration boards had in common were height, weight and teeth.  That’s what is going in these circles along the side.

Felix’s mama also set up a vintage window featuring all his monthly milestone pictures.

Thank you Brayden, Miles, Natalie, Aubrey, Brynlee, Callie, Sophie and Madison for all your inspiration.

Happy Birthday Felix.

Related posts:

Remembering Mom and Dad in a Locket 75 DIY Christmas Gift Ideas Recycled Post Lamp GPS Coordinates Pillow diy