Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you!
I LOVE all the chalkboard family rule signs I see on Pinterest and in the stores.
But there’s always a problem.
- They are too expensive.
- Some of them weren’t the right size.
- Others didn’t say exactly what I wanted.
So I decided to make my own & here it is!
I absolutely LOVED making this. It says exactly what I want and it has the right look I was going for. I made the picture on PicMonkey.com and had it printed off as an 11 x 14 photo poster at my local Walgreens. I then framed it in my living room and now it’s my favorite thing to look at (besides my kids).
Want to make one of your own? Here’s how to do it!
DIY Chalkboard Family Rules (*)
Go to PicMonkey.com and click on Design
Then click on the desired size. You can choose to use the custom size option if needed.
This little legend will pop up on your screen. The “canvas” on your screen will automatically be set on white. Click on Apply.
Click on the Themes button (the little snowflake at the bottom left) and then click on School U theme.
Scroll down and click on Boards. Choose your board, click apply and then the chalkboard will magically appear on your canvas. Isn’t that great?
Once the chalkboard background pops up, you can start adding the words you want.
To add text:
Click on the text icon on the far left side of the screen.
Choose the font you like.
Click the Add Text button. A little white box will appear over the chalkboard. Click on the box and type your first phrase.
Changing the text to white (or any color you choose)
Highlight the text you just typed. In the text legend, drag the little circle in the color window to the top left corner until the words turn white.
I thought the words looked more realistic faded a bit, so I changed the fade to 10% in the text legend.
Some other helpful hints:
To put words on a slant or perpendicular, while the text is highlighted, drag the top middle circle to the right or left.
To make the text bigger, highlight the text then you can change the size in the text legend or drag any corner of the text box.
One last IMPORTANT step
Make sure you leave plenty of room on all the edges of the artwork. The biggest mistake I always make with this project is not leaving enough room on the edges. When I get it printed off as a photo, some of the words get cut off. Believe me this is beyond frustrating!
So moral of this story is, leave your project open on PicMonkey, before you print it out or have it printed as a photo.
If printing the project out at home, print it out and see how it looks. Make any changes if necessary.
If you choose to print the project out as a photo, upload the photo to your photo printing website (like Walgreens) to make sure all the words will not get cut off. To do this I put the photo in the cart and click on crop to see exactly how it will print out. If you need to make more room, go back to your project on PicMonkey and adjust accordingly. If you didn’t leave the project open, you’d have to re-create the whole project over again.
I’ve had to do that several times so I’ve learned my lesson 😉
The Finished Project
When I picked up the print, I thought it looked great.
Then I put it in a frame and started jumping up and down and clapping because it looked so good.
True story 😉
The chalkboard family rule sign really adds a lot more life and personality to this otherwise boring wall, right?
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you!
(*) Some of the original directions to this project have been changed. The original source I used for the chalkboard was not a high resolution image.
This post linked to Create It Thursday Tatertots and Jello Give Me The Goods Monday, In an Out of the Kitchen, Work It Wednesday, Family Fun Friday, The Weekend ReTreat, Serenity Now, Weekend Wind Down, Skip The Houswork Saturday, Saturday Sharefest, Get Schooled Saturday, Inspiration Monday, Project Inspired, DIY Sunday Showcase, Think Pink Sunday, Frugal Friday, Thrifty Thursday, Motivational Monday, and Inspire Me Please