The Magical Land of Chalk - Decorating Your Pop Up Camper Door with a Chalkboard Sign

When we purchased our pop camper, the door was not in great shape. The top portion of the plastic insert was hanging on by medical bandage tape.  It was coming apart a little more each time we used it. After a couple of trips, even the medical tape was not really hanging on.  I decided that it was time for a little work.

At first, I thought about using a printed contact paper to give and updated look, but while searching through Amazon, I found Versachalk Chalkboard Contact Paper.  The chalkboard contact paper will more than cover the door insert and comes with a white chalkboard pen.

The Versachalk Chalkboard contact paper comes with one white pen.

If you want to get a little more artistic, you can purchase colored sets of chalk markers. Chalk Markers for Chalkboard by VersaChalk (Reversible Tip, Neon) - Erasable Dustless Water-Based Non-Toxic Liquid Wet Erase Pens  These pens come in different color combinations.  Some are bright colors and others a bit more subdued.  I ordered the classic colors set.  These colors went on nice and bright and worked well for my color scheme.

Versachalk Classic Colors pen set provides plenty of colors and glides on easily.

I started my project with what came in the role of contact paper - the paper and a simple white pen.
The results were surprisingly simple and look professional.  For someone wanting a chalkboard sign and quote, the contact paper and white pen that comes in the box would be sufficient.

First, you need to start with a design.  I recommend doing a search for chalkboard quotes in whatever genre suits you.  I looked for camping inspired quotes as well as others.  My husband and I both love the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  We took a trip to Chicago when we were dating where we tried to do all of the things in that movie.  This has been a happy memory for me.  I choose to use a quote for the interior door side reading "Life moves pretty fast if you don't stop and look around you might miss it."

I took that piece I found online and stretched it onto two 8 1/2 by 11 sheets to print out and use.  I taped these two pieces together and set them aside to use on my door.
The door was dirty and needed a good cleaning.  I scrubbed both sides with bathroom cleaner and let it dry completely.  Once dry, I covered both sides of the door with the Versachalk Contact Paper.

The original door.

The door insert covered with the chalkboard contact paper.

Next, I traced the lettering of my printed quote on the wrong side of the paper with a piece of chalk. The chalk can be pressed into the contact paper for a pattern that wipes away after you are done.  This step will give you the best looking letters.  If you are great at free handing, you might can do it without this step.

Trace over the printed quote with chalk on the back side to create a pressable pattern.

Place you quote, chalk side down where you want it on the door.  You might want to have a pre-measured spot for this to ensure that it works.  I used a rolling pin to roll over the paper several times to leave the chalk imprint.  It worked great!

Place the pattern on the door where you would like it.

Roll over the pattern with a rolling pin.  I got this one from Pampered Chef.  You could use your hand to press in the chalk pattern by swiping and rubbing over it.

The pressed pattern will give enough coverage to help write out the quote with the chalk marker.  Use the printed quote to help guide you as you work.

Using the chalk pen, I begin tracing over the chalk outline of the lettering.  I suggest making an initial pass over everything just to have your lettering in place.  You will need to come back more than once at this point to complete your look to give everything a finished and professional look.  Take your time.

First swipe over with the pen will not look that great but keep working.

You may need to go over your lettering 2 or 3 more times to get the shading and shape of your letters just right.

Let the chalk pen dry completely then you can wipe away any remaining chalk with your hands or a dry cloth.  The results look really professional.

The exterior door.

The interiro door.

Some tips for doing this kind of project include:

• Work on a nice flat surface.
• Use some type of rolling or smoothing tool to apply the chalk traced pattern.
• Work with a simple large lettered design that will easily read.
• Two 8 1/2 sheets taped together to make a nice size quote to go down the door.
• You can add artwork and designs above and below your quote if you want to fill in space.  
• Do more than one pass over the lettering and allow each one to dry completely before coming back.
• Fill in any additional spaces with artwork that you like.  

I love how this has turned out so far.  Next, I'll be reinserting my door piece with some new channel glazing.  I'll feature this in a separate post later in the month.

Also, you can use leftover contact paper to make simple labels and other projects.  There is quite a bit of the roll.  Now that I've done one project with this contact paper, I am looking for other ways to use it.  This contact paper would make reusable signs for children to hold for beginning and end of school year pictures, a special message for a holiday photo or a birthday poster with memorable information about the birthday boy or girl.  How could you see yourself using this product?

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