From Mirrored Closet Doors to Homeschool Chalkboard!

We're less than 2 weeks away from the beginning of kindergarten, and since I am homeschooling I've had to come up with some of my own ideas on how to cut costs and still maintain a functioning home + school environment. One dilemma has been a large writing surface (i.e. dry erase or chalk board). 

 

After a little digging I picked the sliding mirror closet doors in my daughter's room as the victim. Normally I would hate to cover them... she loves to use them when she plays, but unfortunately one of the doors has a large crack and jagged edge that I've been itching to hide somehow. And available wall space is an issue so this was a win win!


 

 

 



Here is what you will need:

Glass cleaner

 

Microfiber cloth

(or something that will pick up all the lint!)

 

**Primer**

(I used a grey primer. If you don't prime you risk an uneven coat of paint resulting in more paint being used and possibly peeling prematurely.)

Chalkboard paint
(Valspar brand is what I used)
 

Foam roller

(Don't use one with fibers... I'll show you why later)

 

Painter's tape & drop cloth

Chalk & eraser

 

Tape your surface anywhere you do not want paint. Clean your mirror very well and use a microfiber cloth to help grab up any extra linty pieces. Use a foam roller and begin priming your surface. Completely and evenly coat it and let dry. I let mine dry overnight.

 

 

**I used a reguar cheap roller for my primer coat. I wish I had not done that. It resulted in fibers being pulled from the roller and left on the mirror. I didn't really catch it until it was too late and far too bad to pick out individual pieces. Once I added a coat of chalkboard paint I took a very fine grit sand paper and sanded down the rough fibers as much as I could.**

Here you can see the fibers sticking out after a coat of chalkboard paint was applied.

You can see in this image where all the fibers caught the chalk later during the "priming" process. It's not a perfectly flat surface but it still writes very well, just a few little bumps here and there.
 

 

To fix the nasty chip in the mirror I took a quick and simple route of using painter's tape. I took a couple of small pieces and wrapped it around the chip then proceeded to paint over it. You can barely tell on the finished product.

Apply 2 to 3 coats of chalkboard paint according to package instructions, prime the surface with chalk as shown above (I used sidewalk chalk for quick application), erase and you now have a great writing surface!!


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The more I think about it the more excited I am to use the board for school. I can see the sliding doors coming in very handy for hiding subjects, revealing one letter, number or word at a time during different learning activities... yay!
 

 

Preparing My Heart to Homeschool

That's my little drama queen!

She sure is a handful, but what a joy! Almost 5 years old, growing taller every second, imagination that runs wild and free, legs that can't stay still and feet that have no concept of one in front of the other, not to mention she never ever puts her shoes on the correct feet. She'll dance like she owns the imaginary stage. My precious first-born... her first moments on earth were spent shedding tears with her mommy and daddy. I can't think of a day since where she hasn't cried! She sure keeps us on our toes.

As if her crazy dramatic personality isn't enough, next comes kindergarten. It scares me, but not like you may think... I'm not worried about sending my little girl off to a foreign place, the bus ride or the first day jitters of making new friends. I'm worried about me! It has been my prayer, desire, and determination since long before I had children to home school them. I have my days with highs and lows. I get so incredibly excited to teach her, then I panic and question what seems like an insane endeavor. I'm not a stay at home mom, and I'm not saying all homeschooling parents are but I work a full-time mostly 2nd shift job. If she goes to a school away from home I'll never see her! 

I still have an obligation to be her mother and reducing the amount of time I spend with her any more than it already is will undoubtedly be damaging to our relationship both now and even more fearfully, in the future. But how on earth am I supposed to manage work, a 1yr old, a house, a husband, AND teach my little girl??
 

Do I have the patience, organizational skills, or energy? 

I know I don't, not right now at least, but God does. 

I'll draw from Him!

After all, He is who I lean on to get through every other day.

I look forward to blogging about the ups and downs, ins and outs of how it goes. I want to be encouraging to other mothers in a similar situation. I have been encouraged myself by working moms who home school! 

In 3 short months the adventure begins.

~Lisa~