Beckett got an easel for Christmas. Total score. If there was one thing I remember Fen playing with daily, it was her easel. The number of things you can do with them, the way they grow with you (height-wise), the fun of having a little special art center that’s all yours. Priceless.
A few days after bringing it home, I was looking at the easel and my brain kicked into gear. (danger.) We already have a large chalkboard hanging on our wall, so I realized Beckett didn’t really need another chalkboard. What he did need? A felt board. Oh yes, every child needs a felt board.
Here’s what I did.
1. I unscrewed the chalkboard piece from the easel, placed it face down on a piece of flannel. Traced it with Sharpie, but didn’t cut it out yet!
2. Then I used spray adhesive (Elmer’s) on both the flannel (covering the whole inside of the square), and the surface of the chalkboard…. waited a moment for the sides to become slightly tacky, then carefully laid the board face down on the flannel.
3. I flipped the two over, so the flannel was now on top, and grabbed a brayer with a loud whoop! The brayer is used to roll over the surface of the fabric to just seal those two surfaces together. I like to pretend I’m a giant who has picked up a steam roller and is flattening down some asphalt. It’s important to make growling noises like you’re a grumpy giant when you do this.
P.S. Brayers are an indispensable tool. They are used for printmaking, paint-rolling, gluing-together-pressing, and even squishing wayward bugs.
4. After the board had dried nicely- about 24 hours later- I flipped it over, felt-side down onto a rug and craft-knifed the flannel around the edges of the board. Then I jammed something sharp- I think a pin tool- into the holes of the board through the flannel, and screwed it back onto the easel. Easy peasy! If I were much more crafty, I would have glued a border of ribbon or something cool around the outside edge of the flannel.
P.S. We made the felt letters by tracing around letter stickers and cutting them out. I don’t recommend cutting this many letters out, but I couldn’t find any non-sticker felt letters out and about. These are cute from Natalie’s Crafts on Etsy: