How to Design Your Own Chalkboard Sign

How to Design Your Own Chalkboard Sign: A Step by Step Guide

When we moved into our new house, I was excited about the community. There are always seasonal activities going on, a large community pool, clubs for all sorts of things, and so much more.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. [Learn more]

But, most of these are in the main neighborhood, not ours. We’re smaller and separated a bit from the rest of the subdivision, so we began putting together our own activities.

Something to better cultivate community in our small area of the neighborhood.

DIY chalkboard sign

Chalkboard Sign

Therefore, this past weekend we, as my family, hosted a neighborhood scavenger hunt.

We drove around 2 days prior to the event looking at all of the holiday decorations in our area of the neighborhood and used them to create the hunt.

Then, going with a Winter Wonderland sort of theme, we made everything you could with white chocolate and marshmallows.

Seriously. And, because my kids say I’m “extra,” I spent 5 hours making a chalkboard sign to welcome our guests.

I don’t know about “extra” (because I’m old), but I do know that I spent good money on this awesome chalkboard and it needs to be used more often! Plus, it just looks amazing when I finish a design.

When I posted about it on my Instastory, I was asked about how it was done so thought a blog post would be the easiest way to detail the process. Ready?

chalkboard sign Photoshop design

Start with a design. I use Photoshop, but something as easy as PicMonkey or Canva is also a great resource.

Using my ridiculously extensive font collection and vector graphics, I designed something amazing and fun to look at, yet simple enough to transfer.

That’s the key! Remember that everything in your design will have to transfer over to the chalkboard.

Finish your design and print it out.

Tip: it needs to print the size of your board. My printout was 12 pages to fit my easel chalkboard.

Once you have your design printed, lay it out on your chalkboard to make sure everything fits and lines up properly.

diy chalkboard sign supplies

I used painter’s tape to hold everything in place. With all of the pieces taped together, turn the design over and use a piece of chalk to “color” the non-printed side of the paper.

Be sure to color every letter, line, dot, and clip art on your design. You will see why in the next step.

transfer your chalkboard design

Now that you’ve completely chalked the opposite side of your graphic, blow off any excess chalk dust and flip the paper back over onto your chalkboard.

Tape it back into place and grab a pencil!

make your own chalkboard sign

Using the pencil, begin tracing the design. Don’t push too hard that you mess up your chalkboard!

Put enough pressure on the pencil to transfer the chalk on the underside over to the chalkboard. Lift a small section to make sure you have the pressure right!

Continue until all of the graphics you designed has been transferred over to the chalkboard. Remove the paper and pick up the chalk again.

This time, you will need to carefully go over the transferred design with chalk.

Tip: Use a pencil sharpener for thin lines and keep a cotton swab nearby for any mishaps along the way.

Continue until you’ve completed your sign.

hot chocolate bar inside chalkboard sign

The last step is to clean up the design and blow off some of that chalk dust! I use a damp cotton swab and napkin to get around the design and give it a fresh, clean, finished look.

Do you love designing your own chalkboard sign?

I mean, look what you just created!

I know I could never freehand it like some of these talented ladies, so this is the best I can do… and it looks pretty awesome! Have fun with your design!


Disclosure: Our Family Lifestyle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.