In an effort to make my house a home, I have been trying many new things and have stepped out of my comfort zone in so many ways. It has been marvelous!
Using my background in design, I decided to design some chalkboard word art for our walls. I am super-excited about this, as it fits perfectly with our new ‘gray’ look and chalkboard theme (with a farmhouse type feel), that we are ever so slowly implementing! Anything good takes time, right?!
My first piece was inspired by Sally Clarkson and the words she spoke to her children in her book Own Your Life: Living With Deep Intention, Bold Faith and Generous Love. I designed it, spent countless hours tweaking it, and finally was happy with it and ready to print.
I had one small problem.
Well, really, it was kind of a big problem.
I needed a 16×20 print of the design. Everywhere I looked to get a print that size printed it would cost at least $15-20, if not much more. Sure, I could have found a way to get that money somewhere (probably by selling something we don’t need), but I wanted to make several more different quotes for my walls, and that felt like a lot of pressure. And a lot of time. I wanted to be able to print it and hang it immediately!
So I did some digging and ended up finding an incredible secret.
I found that you could print an engineering print at Staples for only $1.99.
BUT, your image is printed in only black and white.
No problem! A chalkboard design doesn’t need any color. Woohoo!
I Was A Little Nervous
To be honest, I was a little concerned. I didn’t know exactly how they sent the file to the printer, but I figured even if it wasn’t what I needed, it would only cost me $1.99 and I would just need to find another solution.
I ordered the print, and when I went to pick it up, I was ecstatic. It looked incredible! I have not tried photographs yet, but if you need to print something very large, I would recommend trying it. Most large prints are viewed from a distance, so you will probably be fine.
If you try it, let me know how you like it!
FREE Chalkboard Wall Art
All of you lovely readers have adored the design so much that I made the file available in different sizes for download. I am thrilled that this might help more homes than ours!
Please note that they do print it on a regular bond printer paper, so to ensure no wrinkling it is best to either matte it down or secure it firmly under glass in a frame. I put mine under glass and it was fine for me!
Where did you find that frame?
Many of you have asked about the frame. I bought the frame at a local auction for only $1. Woohoo! Then I spray painted it with just one coat of my favorite Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover Spray Paint.
The frame is really unique and I was lucky to find it. If you want a deal on one, keep your eye out at yardsales or thrift shops. Or search for any 16×20 ornate frame, and I’m sure you’ll find one that suits your fancy! If it’s not the color you want, spray paint it to your liking!
Large Wall Art Examples In Our Home
Here is another example of a wall art and frame we have in our house using this printing method as well.
And one more example on our kitchen mantle:
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Lydia @ Thrifty Frugal Mom says
This is lovely, Kathy! You are so creative. And I know some of my friends have used the engineer prints and loved them too. Someone just told me recently that Costco is also super cheap for prints and canvases too, I think. I’m pretty sure you can use their photo lab without a membership too. Just thought you might be interested in checking into that if you want to do something in color.
Josee Rhuma says
Hi Kathy, I just read your post and got all excited about it. It looks great:)
Since moving into our new home last yr, like you, I’ve been trying to turn it into a home. I want to make two framed word art for my entry, with names of towns of my country and my husband’s. I want to write them myself, print and frame. Did you write the words yourself for your art work? And was it on paper, and took a picture of that and took the picture to staples? Im thinking of giving your suggestion a try. I hope you don’t mind my asking but if you could please explain the process so I can know what to do. Please help! Thank you.
Kathy says
I downloaded fonts from free places like dafont.com. I used Photoshop to create this, but I have used other programs, and even free online services like canva.com and picmonkey.com to create them too. I’ll have to post instructions! It isn’t too difficult, you just upload your background and add white text on top. Let me get to work on writing down the details and including some screenshots to help you out! I hope to get back to you soon!!! Thanks for your interest. And let me know how it is going.
Deborah says
I’ve had color prints done. . They come out extremely well. The size of a poster board was about $6. Well worth it!
Kathy says
That’s great Deborah! I can’t wait to try it in color!!
Jasmine Eclipse says
Oh my gosh what a GREAT tip!! I’ve been loving the huge art prints I’ve seen online but they’re all so ridiculously priced. I’m definitely going to do this for my new house! Thank you so much!
Kathy says
I’m so glad you like it. I would love to see pictures of your final pieces for your new house. I am loving printing out new quotes and wall art for my house. I hope to have more free printables and downloads soon!
Jamie says
Such an awesome idea! I’m saving this for later! Thanks for the tip!
Kathy says
You are very welcome!
Morgan Baker says
Hi Kathy!
I am currently trying to make my file to do an engineering print, I am just doing a saying and saving it as a PDF. Do you know if this works?
Kathy says
You can save it as a PDF, but I just did a JPEG and it worked fine. I’m pretty sure it should accept a PDF too though.
Rayann says
What size is the engineer print? Did it actually come out 16×20 or couuld you tell them what size you needed? is an engineer print a standard size?
Kathy says
There are different size options that you can see when you log in to Staples print area on their website. I sometimes choose an even large sheet and print a few pieces of artwork on the same sheet. I usually always trim them down. When you log in, you can upload your files and place them on the paper sheet size so you’ll see how much you have to trim off.
You will want to resize your image to the right printable size before you upload it. You can do this by opening your photo or graphic in your image editing program and making sure the size is 16×20.
Hope that helps!