LEARN HOW TO MAKE A CHALKBOARD LETTERING SIGN WITH THIS EASY STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL. PLUS GET ACCESS TO THE PRINTABLE I’M USING TO MAKE THE SIGN.
This is my first time doing a chalkboard lettering sign. I’m taking you on this chalk adventure with me. Making a chalkboard sign has been on my to-do list for a while now. But for some reason, it seemed very tedious for me to do.
I was glad that Chalkola reached out to me so I could try some of their chalk markers. This is the perfect opportunity for me to finally check out of my lettering projects “I want-to-do” list.
COLLABORATION WITH CHALKOLA
Recently, Chalkola reached out to me to collaborate. Chakola is an art and crafts brand, and they offer fun art supplies for creatives, kids, parents, and businesses.
Chalkola sent me these products to try:
Please note: even though I received these products as a gift to try, this is my honest review. I always give my honest opinion and talk about MY experience with all and ANY products I share on my blog.
Read until the end to get my honest review about these products.
You’ll also be able to get access to my FREE lettering resources by filling out the form at the end of this blog post.
First, let’s get to the tutorial and let me show you how to make this “It’s Fun to Create” Chalkboard Lettering Sign!
I’m excited to share with you this Easy DIY Chalkboard Sign Tutorial! This post may contain some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy here.
HERE IS THE VIDEO TUTORIAL:
Easy Chalkboard Sign Lettering Tutorial
MATERIALS NEEDED
These are the tools I used:
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Liquid Chalk Markers – Pack of 30.
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You can use the code: CHALKOLA10 for a 10% discount on your Chalkola Amazon order. (I get no additional commission or anything for this code, but I love that you DO get a discount.
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- Transfer paper
- Tape
- Your lettering or design. I loved how this design turned out, so I turned it into a printable for you to try chalkboard lettering. Of course, you can do your lettering design.
- If you’d like to learn to letter or get some practicing done, I recommend you start practicing using lettering practice worksheets. You can download mine from my free resource library– request the password at the bottom of this post. Shameless plug, my Modern Calligraphy Workbook for beginners, has everything you need to know about lettering. You can get it here.
EASY CHALKBOARD LETTERING SIGN DIY STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL
STEP 1:
Decide on the design you’d like to make. Pinterest and Instagram are good sources to look for inspiration and quotes to write. But make sure you don’t waste too much time here. I was getting a little bit stuck on this one for a little while.
To help you with this, I turned my design into a printable for you. I have it on my resource library, and you can have access to it by filling out the form at the bottom of this post.
I always like to sketch everything beforehand. This design is one I started last year but never finished.
Lettering tip: keep a sketchbook handy where you can have sketches of running lettering ideas. Aso, it’s ok to stop working on your designs and come back to them later. I’ve instances where I spent too much time trying to get a perfect piece, only to mess it up at the end. Or even to not like the final piece. It’s good to come back to your sketches at a later time with a new perspective.
I started the sketch for this design in May of last year. I’m glad I had it on my sketchbook because it saved me some time trying to create a new piece.
STEP 2:
Transfer your design onto your chalkboard. For this, you can use this transfer paper. Simply, put the transfer paper between the design and your chalkboard. Put a piece of tape onto your design to make sure it stays in place. Then, use a pen or pencil to go over the design, making sure the transfer paper is working correctly.
Or you can also freehand your design onto the chalkboard. I used a regular pencil to sketch my design onto the chalkboard and used a regular eraser when I had to make corrections.
I ended up only sketching the lettering part of the design to make sure it was centered. Then the florals and other embellishments, I added them at the end with the chalk markers.
STEP 3:
Start inking your design. Here comes the fun part!
Before you can start using the chalk markers, you need to activate them. Here what you need to do:
- First, shake well the chalk marker.
- Pump it. Press the tip for a while, then release. Repeat this several times, until the tip starts filling in with ink. For these pens, it took a little bit of time to get the ink flowing to the tip.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
One of the things I loved about chalkboard lettering is how easy you can clean the chalk marker when you make a mistake. Simply get a wet wipe and clean the area you want to erase, then use a paper towel to dry it. I was happy to see how well these chalk markers erase. I’ve seen some other chalk markers leave marks on the chalkboard.
Optional lettering technique: I used blending on the words “FUN” and “create.” For this technique, I recommend using a lighter color chalk marker at the top, then while the ink is wet, color in the middle part with a darker shade chalk marker. Clean the chalk marker with a scrap piece of paper. Finish inking the bottom part of the letter using the darker shade chalk marker. This will create a blending lettering technique!
THAT’S IT! You created your chalkboard lettering sign!
I’m SO happy with the result and how easy it was to make this DIY chalkboard lettering sign. The best part is that you can erase the design and re-use the chalkboard.
ABOUT THESE PRODUCTS & MY REVIEW:
Rustic Chalkboard Sign:
- It’s a 15″x12″ chalkboard sign. I think this size it’s great for a chalkboard. I can use it to display welcome, food, games, and any other related party signs. This is an excellent option because you can reuse this sign many times!
- It works perfectly with chalk markers and regular chalk.
- Vintage feel with easel. I like the easel part because it’s ready to be easily displayed. I’m not a huge fan of vintage items, but I don’t mind the vintage look of this chalkboard.
- Easy-glide Writing surface. I love the surface. It’s non-porous, and the markers write like butter!
- It’s Magnetic! Such a fun alternate option to the chalkboard. It holds magnets great! I was pleasantly surprised by this option.
Liquid Chalk Markers – Pack of 30
- Even though these are chalk markers, they work on other surfaces other than chalkboards, like windows, glass, ceramics, and mostly all non-porous surfaces.
- These markers come in super fun colors.
- Based on their website description, these markers are also kid-safe because they are Xylene & Odor Free
- Easy to clean. You just need a wet wipe to clean them. Then use a paper towel to get the surface back to normal.
- It took a while for the ink to flow into the tip. This is the one thing I didn’t enjoy much. But this is only when the markers are new. After that, activating them is almost instantaneous. I haven’t tried other chalk markers, so I’d be hard to say how they compare to other chalk markers. The tip of two out of the 30 markers was not as smooth as the others after I activated them.
Have a fantastic day!