Countdown to Christmas Chalkboard
This Christmas craft is an easy and fun project and will help kids to countdown the days until Christmas!
Materials:- 11 1/2" x 8 3/4" Chalkboard
- Acrylic paint in red, green & white
- Paintbrush
- Assorted pre-finished wooden figures*
- 3 Eyehooks
- 12" piece of string/twine
- Wire**
- Tacky glue
- 1 piece of sidewalk chalk
*You can substitute unfinished wooden figures and finish them yourself using paint or markers before proceeding with the project instructions.
** I used 26 gauge wire but I would prefer a thicker wire.
- Paint two coat of green paint on the wooden border of the chalkboard letting it dry between coats.
- Screw one eyehook in the side of the chalkboard approximately 1 1/2" down from the top. On the top edge of the wooden border screw one eyehook 1" from each end. It may be helpful to start the holes with a hand drill.
- Decorate the border of the chalkboard by gluing on pre-finished wooden figures or unfinished figures which you have finished. Use paint pens or acrylic paints to help decorate the border any way you want. It might even be fun to add some glitter paint.
- Approximately three quarters of the way down on the face of the board, use white paint to write Days Until Christmas.
- Make a grove in the chalk 1/2" from one end. You can either do this with a sharp knife or by opening a pair of scissors and putting the chalk between the scissor blades and turning the chalk.
- Tie one end of a 12" piece of twine around the chalk keeping the string in the groove. This will prevent the chalk from sliding out of the string when tied.
- Tie the other end of the string to the eyehook on the side of the chalkboard.
- To make the hanger, cut an 18" length of wire and attach it to the two eyehooks on top of the chalkboard leaving a 3" tail at each end of the wire. Curl each of the 3" wire pieces around a pencil and slide the pencil out.
To Use: Starting in December, write the number of days left until Christmas at the top of the chalkboard. So on December 1st you would write in the number 24 with the attached chalk. The next day erase the 24 and write the number 23 in it's place.