DIY Chalkboard Clips

During the holidays I was looking for the perfect hostess gift.  While shopping at a department store I saw these really cute mini chalkboard clips.  The idea is to clip them onto your servingware to identify the dish.  They sold in a package of 6 for $10 so I bought them.

Then once I got home I looked at them closely and realized... wait a second, I can make these for much cheaper!  So I did what every other Pintrest-addict does, or at least wants to do, and recreated the product myself.

In addition to the glue gun, here were the essentials:

I was really planning on using my chalkboard spray paint on mini wooden rectangles but was lucky enough to find mini-chalkboards at the craft store.  Anytime I can find a more efficient way to do a project, I'm on it!  Now since they were already chalkboards I used blue painting tape to cover the chalkboard as I painted the wooden parts gold.  Then I painted the wooden clips gold.  After two coats they were ready to be glued together.

Really I just removed the blue tape, hot glued the boards to the clip and they were done.  Ta-da!  I had created a really great hostess gift for the fraction of the cost.

What I liked even more about them as a gift is that I used them for the appetizer I brought to the party and then left them for the hostess to use at future dinner parties.  That way she was able to see how great they are in action and hopefully they don't sit packed away.  Of course the DIY Chalkboard Platter that I made doesn't hurt the look either :)

*Note: when using your own chalkboard paint, condition the surface by taking the side of the chalk (long side) and chalk up the whole thing.  Then just wipe it off.  This will make it easier to erase marks in the future.  Otherwise the initial marks may stay.

DIY Chalkboard Platter

Over the holidays I was asked to bring an appetizer to one of the dinners.  I knew that dinner was going to be filling so I wanted to bring something light yet festive.  Immediately I decided to prepare an antipasto platter with goodies from my favorite local Italian market, Rubino's Italian Imports.

The presentation of an antipasto is just as important as the taste.  I remember when I was a waitress at a family-owned Italian restaurant, we treated each antipasto platter as a work of art and took pride in each order.  

I had an idea in mind and thanks to Goodwill, my new favorite chalkboard spray paint and this pin... my idea came to life. After a few trips to Goodwill I found THE PERFECT frame.  It didn't have glass but instead a clear plastic sheet (not shown).

And look how much (or should I say how little) it was...

All I did was remove the clear plastic sleeve (glass in most frames) and spray paint it with the chalkboard spray paint. After I replaced it I also hot glued felt to the bottom just so it wouldn't damage the tables.

Here's the finished product! As you can see my antipasto had salami, prosciutto, marinated olives (my favorite at Rubino's), provolone, pecorino, mozzarella, pepperoncini, eggplant caponata and some fresh Italian bread.  I just used dishes from my cabinets to add different heights and color.  So pretty and so yummy!

  

Don't worry, I will post the tutorial for the mini chalkboard clips later so stay tuned.  They were a perfect leave-behind gift for the hostess.

*Note: when using your own chalkboard paint, condition the surface by taking the side of the chalk (long side) and chalk up the whole thing.  Then just wipe it off.  This will make it easier to erase marks in the future.  Otherwise the initial marks may stay.