Do you love personalized stuff as much as I do? This Chalkboard Lunch Box DIY project is a fun way to send a personalized message to your child each day at lunchtime. I was recently looking through a children’s clothing magazine (I don’t recall which one – I get tons of them) and came across a cute metal lunch box which had been jazzed up with some chalkboard paint. What I remember most about it was the expensive price tag, but also knew that it could be easily recreated at a fraction of the cost. This seems to be the case for most things I see in magazines these days.
I picked up a plain metal lunchbox for this project, but any lunch box would work since you’ll only be painting the inside of the lid. I don’t know if it was totally necessary or not, but I lightly sanded the area that I would be painting. It was probably an extra step, but I wanted to be sure. For the chalkboard paint I used a Martha Stewart chalkboard brush on paint that I picked up at Michaels. Using a foam paint brush, I brushed on 3 coats of paint, waiting approximately an hour between coats. I let it dry completely over night.
Here’s where I really want you to pay attention… Use a good painters tape and tape off the edges around the area you wish to paint. The tape I used left a little to be desired and some of my edges didn’t come clean, thus the inspiration for the ribbon trimmed border. Even though it was a bit of a goof, I think the ribbon border is kinda cute. If you want to add the ribbon border, I used 3/8 inch wide ribbon and adhered it with some tacky craft glue.
Although I haven’t tried it, I think the spray on chalkboard paint would work just as well for this project. This was a very fun and simple DIY project. I hope you enjoy it!
That’s such a fun easy craft for back to school.
I like the ribbon. Makes it look like a real chalkboard..
SERIOUSLY? THIS IS AWESOME.
what a cute idea! i wwant a chalkboard lunch for my daughter!
That is absolutely adorable, and I love the fact you can write cute little notes without wasting lots of paper and trees to do it!
Chalkboard lunch box! Love it! What an easy way to send lunchbox notes every single day!
I absolutely LOVE this idea!! I wish I had thought of this when my kids were little, but I am going to share this with my friends who have little ones in school.
FANTASTIC idea!
You’re a total genius – this is a brilliant idea! I’m so doing this with the younger ones this Fall.
That is a wonderful idea!
Now that really is a cute idea and my kids would have LOVED it!!!!!!