diy personalized chalkboards

for christmas gifts for my friends, i tried to be thoughtful/creative. it can be difficult to create that perfect, useful gift without giving the gift that says "i'm really cheap and used scrap wood from my basement" but i riskily (is that a word?) went for it and used old wood from my basement. 

originally from my old kitchen cabinets. 

and then i used chalkboard paint, painter's tape, sand paper, and a sharpie. merry christmas, from those of us who are into easy DIYs and practical gifts. 

what to do:

--find something to paint. in my case, wood that i cut to size from old kitchen shelves. 

--sand it down, so that the paint is absorbed...and so it won't peel off!

--press the painter's tape into whatever space on your board that you want to be left blank. i made each one differently, and on some i taped the edges so that the chalkboard part was centered on the board. on another, i merely taped an angled corner. make sure to use your fingernail and reallllly seal the painters tape, or else the paint will bleed under.
--slap the paint on there. wait til it dries. do it again. wait til it dries. take the tape off.
--add your hand lettering in the space where the tape was, using your sharpie.

have you made anything with chalkboard paint? i'd love to hear your craft ideas!