DIY Halloween Chalkboard Art with Free Printable Patterns

DIY Cheap Halloween Mantel Idea

This Halloween chalkboard art is fun to create, looks great as Halloween home decor, and is both inexpensive and easy to make. This time of year, decorating for all the holidays can make my knees weak, but I love every minute of it. I am sure you’re going to love creating this Halloween craft project with its spooky owl.

 

If you already have a large chalkboard, this Halloween Owl chalkboard sign takes less than an hour. Go ahead and skip past the next section on making a chalkboard.

Buy or Make a Chalkboard

You will need a chalkboard about 24 by 36 inches or larger.

The easiest way to make a chalkboard is to update an old picture. Purchase a large framed piece of art or a mirror from a local thrift store and give the background surface several coats of black chalkboard paint. Let the paint dry between coats and apply as many coats as the manufacturer recommends. If the thrift store frame does not have a backing, replace it with a piece of wood or foam core board, then paint it with chalkboard paint. I like Martha Stewart’s chalkboard paint.

If you prefer to make your own from wood, purchase good grade 1/4 inch plywood or smooth pressboard and sand it with fine sandpaper until it is as smooth as possible.

Paint the plywood with several coats of black chalkboard paint. Let it dry between coats. Use whatever molding you like. Cut it to length, glue the molding to the plywood, then add small finishing nails to create the frame. Clamp it and let it dry overnight before staining or painting the frame.

DIY Halloween Chalkboard Easy Tutorial

Halloween Chalkboard Supplies

To download the free Halloween printables, click on the Owl Printable link. It will open as a two-page, letter-size printable. You can print the patterns at home using regular print quality, and grayscale works perfectly. The Halloween tree printable opens as a one-page black-and-white printable.

The most important thing to remember when creating this Halloween chalkboard is that you are working with negative space. The owl silhouette is left as the bare chalkboard, and you add chalk around it to make the shape appear.

Step 1 – Create the Circle Moon Outline

Decide how large you want your circle to be. Mine is 26 inches across. Using the chalk, make an X where you want the center of your circle to be. Cut a length of string and wrap the end of it around a small piece of chalk. Hold one end of the string on the center X and draw the outside circle. If you need to move your hand, place the end of the string back on the X and continue drawing. Once finished, erase the X and clean up any chalk smudges.

as
Step 2 – Add the Owl and Spooky Tree

Print out the large owl printable. The printable is two pages. Line up the two halves of the owl and tape them securely. Cut out the owl shape.

Place the owl shape where you want it within the circle. Outline the outside of the owl with chalk.

Print out the Halloween tree printable.  Use it as a guide for drawing your branches.  Outline the outside edges of the branches, leaving the centers blank.

Step 3: Fill in the Halloween Moon

Using the side of a piece of chalk, fill in the areas between the owl, the branches, and the outside edge of the circle. This makes the chalk marks wider and smoother.

Using a slightly damp cloth, wipe away any chalk residue from the black areas and details. This will sharpen the contrast and help the owl and branches stand out.

Don’t you love how the moon turned out? I think it’s fantastic.

Halloween Mantel Decor with the Finished Chalkboard

This is my completed Halloween mantel decor. It’s a little spooky, but still pretty. I added pumpkins, funny black cats, and a vampire red Halloween banner to coordinate with the candles I already had.

I prefer cute Halloween decorations that are more spooky and fun than scary. Anything really macabre makes me feel down, and I don’t want decorations that might scare my granddaughters. If you would like to see how I decorated the rest of the living room, check out my Bling on Halloween post.

Happy Halloween Leanna

Not ready to decorate?  Pin to Make Later!