DIY: Children's Chalk Table & Chalk Storage Bins

Here is a great project for your budding artist...this will really give him (or her) a large palette in which he (or she) can master those skills!

What you'll need:
*small table
*chalkboard paint
*painter's tape
*paintbrush or roller
*latex paint (also, see previous post about some nontoxic nursery paint as an option!)

How to make it:
1. Find an old small table and tape off a border (about 1" wide) along all 4 sides.
2. Apply some chalkboard paint with a roller inside of the taped-off portion of the table.
3. Let it dry overnight, and then add a second coat the next day.
4. Once the second coat has dried another 24 hours, peel off the tape on the sides.
5. As an added bonus option, you can tape off a portion of the border and paint another colorful border within it. Or use your own artistic skills to perhaps paint in some items that go with the theme of your child's room (also can find stencils if you're afraid of your own skills, or the lack thereof!). No worries - have fun with it - the creativity of you just may inspire your child to become the next Picasso!


Another option: Find some wooden storage bins for your child's room, and again tape off a border (about 1"). Within that border, use the same chalkboard paint to paint the space within the taped portion. Here you can use chalk to write in as a label whatever is to be stored there (for example, blocks, balls, dolls, etcetera).