Chalkboards have become super popular over the last few years, but I struggle with them. I have terrible handwriting. I can't write pretty things on a chalkboard to save my life. I eschewed them for a long time until I got my Silhouette and had a huge lightbulb moment.
I don't HAVE to have nice handwriting anymore!! I can make a STENCIL for my chalkboard!!
Now, vinyl is not cheap, so I usually go to the dollar store and buy their contact paper. It's not very sticky, though, so it makes things a tad bit more complicated. If you don't have patience or a whole lot of time, I'd say stick with vinyl, or get some higher quality contact paper.
First things first - you need a chalkboard and a Silhouette cameo. I'm sorry - I don't have any other file formats. If you have a really good, steady hand, you could have a go with an Exacto knife - but if I can't write this stuff well, I knew I wouldn't be able to cut it well, either. My Silhouette was the best $300 I've ever spent in my life. For reals. Didn't have it last year, but this year with it, I will SILHOUETTE ALL THE THINGS ;P
Ahem. Sorry.
Go here for the .studio3 cut file.
For contact paper, these are the settings I use:
I always use my 24" mat because it makes jobs like this so much easier.
Feed your mat through, and instead of weeding out the outside and middle pieces, weed out the parts you actually want to stay.
Get your transfer paper and lay it on top, then smooth it all out. Peel off the back of the contact paper and position your stencil on your chalkboard. Try to get it centered...obviously I failed miserably at that. So be it.
Smooth out well.
This part got REALLY tricky with the dollar store contact paper. It did NOT want to stick to my chalkboard, so I had a hard time getting it off the transfer paper. Took me WAY longer than I wanted it to, but dang it, I did it ;P
Once the stencil is on there, LIGHTLY rub your chalk over it. Be careful not to move too fast or too hard, or it might pull up some pieces and leave you with some muddy spots (as you can see in the top picture O_o)
Now you can peel the stencil off and enjoy your nice, (in my case, mostly) neat, and prettily written chalkboard :D
These files are for personal use only, please. Don't have a silhouette? You can head on over to my Etsy shop and can purchase the stencil there. Don't see it in the shop? Send me a PM and we'll get it sorted :D
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