DIY Torah Portion Chalkboard

I made this chalkboard a couple of years ago and it has been one of my all time favorite DIY projects! In addition to serving a practical purpose it is extremely simple and inexpensive to make. Hard to beat that, right?

After we bought our house I knew I wanted something in our kitchen to keep our focus on Scripture and help with memorization. Each week I put a verse from the Torah Portion up.We have it hanging so you see it when you're heading out the door. This has been a great bit of encouragement and reminder of truth as we go about our days.

This is the before and after of my project. I wish I had taken photos of the process, but that was not on the priority list when we were getting our house ready to live in. Thankfully it's so simple you'll be able to follow along. I found the frame in a thrift store. As you can see, it was peeling and a little worn. It took only a few minutes of work to transform something damaged and discarded into a declaration of the word of YHWH.

This is a great project for kids to help with, and it can be there job to select the verse or to write it on the board. About 90% of the time ours is from the weekly Torah Portion, but I will also write Scriptures that have really been resonating with me. I am not perfect about getting it changed each week, but it's still wonderful to have truth displayed in your home! It can be a great dinnertime topic or conversation starter with guests. And just writing a verse down gives it time to sink in and is a great memorization tool for me.

You will need:
Picture frame with some type of backing you can paint
Chalkboard paint
Spray paint (optional)

Directions:
Take apart your picture frame. Wipe down the outer frame and remove anything that's peeling (if needed). If it has glass in it to protect the photo you can go ahead and recycle that.
If you'd like your frame to be a different color, spray paint it over newspaper. You may have to give it a couple of coats to make it look even.
My picture frame came with a photo on cardboard, so I put my chalkboard paint directly over that. You can also cut a piece of cardboard or a thin piece of wood to fit in your frame and paint over that. Like the spray paint, it might need a couple of coats to get rid of streaks.
Let it dry.
Reassemble the frame, this time with the chalkboard instead of a painting or photo. And hang wherever you'd like.