Verdigris Magnetic Chalkboard and Instagram Gallery {Tutorial and Photo Overload}

*Fair warning. There will be lots of pictures, but this is two tutorials packed into one bite-sized post.*

 I lead a sheltered life, so it was just recently that I jumped on the thrift store bandwagon. I just have to be careful which days I go because of one frequent shopper that I've nicknamed The Shopping Cart Lady. Note to self: Shopping carts in the Goodwill are not for items that the employees are getting ready to stock. They are for power shoppers. Do not touch these items or you may get yelled at in the middle of the store. I almost cried.
 A few months ago, I found a white picture frame that was just that...a frame. It was glass-less and picture-less. But,

it was the perfect size for the space below the shelves where we have our drop station in the kitchen. Shortly after that, I found a Pinterest image that was linked to a Instagallery that Dawn from Home Sweet Home had made.
Chalkboard? Magnetic? An Instagram gallery that you can change out on a whim? I'm in.

 I needed some color in that spot of the kitchen so I decided to use the tutorial on how to do a faux copper verdigris finish by Shelly from Gingersnap Creations for the frame.

This a ceiling tile that I tried her technique on that I have not gotten around to framing. 

Here's how I made the magnetic chalkboard and applied the same faux verdigris method to the picture frame that I found for $1.00 in the Goodwill store.
I cut the sheet metal with a pair of Pampered Chef's Professional Shears. Make sure you wear gloves because the metal is sharp.
First I had to spray paint the piece of sheet metal and the frame.

1. Gray Primer, 2. Dual Paint and Primer in Flat Black, 3. Fusion Hammered Copper

To turn the sheet metal into chalkboard, I used Krylon's Dual Paint and Primer in Flat Black. Before painting it, I lightly sanded and cleaned the surface. I gave it 3 light coats of the black paint.
For the frame, I primed it with gray primer and then gave it two light coats of Krylon's Fusion Hammered Finish in Copper. I let this dry for 30 minutes.
This picture was taken after 2 coats. 

To give the frame a verdigris finish, I used similar paint colors to what Shelly used in her tutorial.

1. Burnt Umber, 2. Metallic Peridot, 3. Pool Blue, 4. Antique White

I randomly dabbed on the green and blue.

Dab and swirl the paint into the detail of the frame allowing some of the copper paint to show through. It's ok at this point for the paint to have brush marks.

Blend a dot of the antique white into the blue paint and lightly dab it on to give the paint a speckled appearance. Your brush should almost be dry. I also used a sea sponge at this point.

 

The last step is to use your finger to rub off some of the paint on the detail of the frame so the copper paint will show through. I also added a little burnt umber to the corners to resemble the rust from the inspiration photo. I put staples in the back of the frame and bent them over to hold in the sheet metal. 

Be sure to rub chalk over the painted sheet metal before you use the chalkboard or you will have a hard time getting the writing off.

The magnetic chalkboard is being used as an Instagram Gallery, but I also plan on using it to hold Christmas cards. For when we have company, I can use it to write out the menu.

I lucked up and found photo paper at the dollar store. To print the Instagram photos, email the photos to yourself and save them to your desktop.
**Update: If you don't have Instagram, I found this tutorial on how to make Instagram-ish pictures by editing with Picmonkey by Becca from Our Crazy Boys.  ***
 Upload them to Picmonkey and make a collage. I had to print out my photos on plain paper first so I could make sure the size of the photos were correct. 

 If anyone needs more detail on how to print out your own Instagram photos from Picmonkey, leave me a comment and I will give you more details.

Today marks Simplicity In The South's two month old birthday! Much thanks goes out to all of my new followers and those that have been here from the beginning! You help me stay accountable and keep the momentum going.

I also want to thank Power of Paint for sharing my Mercury Pendant Light with her readers yesterday.

***I need your vote!!!***

If you liked my project, then you can vote for me by going to

Thistlewood Farm's Fall In Love With Spray Paint Party.  Just look for the picture that you see above and click "like". I'm on the 9th row of entries. Thanks for the vote!

Update:
Thanks to all the people who voted! I was one of the four selected to win the the prize package from Krylon Paints! 
Check out this link to see all of the winners over at Thistlewood Farms.

To see all the projects that I've done using spray paint, click here. 
This is my most favorite spray paint project so far:

I'm linking this project up to some of my favorite blogs, such as:
Tater Tots and Jello