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HOW TO MAKE ERASABLE LIQUID CHALK for Painting, Stencils & Silkscreens

  Do you remember waaaaaaaaaaay back to a time before there were chalk markers, before adhesive vinyl chalk surfaces, before chalkboards took the world by storm?  Your options were basically limited to using chalk sticks on a slate-like chalkboard. I vaguely even remember chalk art. Now, it's everywhere!  The style has taken over and it couldn't be more fun and exciting.
  I came across another new twist on chalkboard art recently. It's called liquid chalk and it's made by Plaid & Martha Stewart Crafts. Leave it to Martha Stewart and her creative team to come up with this innovative product. It's pretty awesome. The one thing that surprised me was that the liquid chalk is only available in white....just white. How can this be? I needed colors and I needed them fast!!!
  I was creating a sign for the fourth of July and needed a little red white and blue! I decided to some experimenting and came up with a colored version of my own. To my surprise, it was actually very easy to make. Read on and I'll show you how you can create my version of liquid chalk in any color imaginable!

How to make Liquid Chalk in colors like Martha Stewart Crafts










STEP ONE:
Using a cheese grater or Microplane grate the chalk into a fine powder. Although most chalk is non-toxic I would recommend designating a micro plane for crafts only.



STEP TWO:
Add the gel hand sanitizer. You want the consistency of thick pancake syrup. Thin, watery chalk will leak under stencils and silkscreens. If you go overboard and add too much hand sanitizer you just need to grate more chalk.  Mix thoroughly until well blended.
 





Try with as many colors as you want. Be sure to store in airtight containers. If the chalk dries out you can add more alcohol or water.

STEP THREE:
You're now ready to begin using your chalk paint. Use a paint brush, old credit card or your fingers to "pull" the chalk paint across the silkscreen.
 





The liquid chalk writes and erases on any chalkboard surface the same way chalk would.  If you don't have a chalkboard you can easily make your own. I've made chalkboard surfaces on everything from ceramic mugs to card stock. There are many options for chalkboard paint lately.  I really love Rust-Oleum's chalk spray paint. It dries to a very smooth finish and works nicely with chalk markers which can sometimes be hard to erase. If you want to make your own chalkboard paint I found some great 'recipes' on Salvaged Inspirations.  One of the recipes even uses regular household baking soda. How great is that!




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How to make Liquid Chalk in colors like Martha Stewart Crafts