an oldie but a goodie

I rescued a vintage easel chalkboard today. 

By vintage, I mean that it was left behind at our church by the previous congregation when they moved out.  

(They left us a veritable wealth of treasures. Like 50 year old fluorescent ballasts, electrical mysteries, walls that were merely indoor/outdoor carpeting nailed to STUDS, a formerly gorgeous wood basketball court floor that was allowed to ruin - but thoughtfully covered up with plastic tiling - and dead racoon families in the attic, among other things.)

(Really. Rotting, stinking run-up-the-curtain-and-joined-the-choir-invisible-pushing-up-daisies DEAD ANIMALS. Last summer anyone at anytime could be seen sniffing the walls to try and determine exacly where THAT SMELL was coming from.)

(So most of what was left behind ended up at the landfill, and rightfully so.)

Honestly, I'm not really sure how the chalkboard escaped. It's not much to look at, and not really big enough to be useful for classroom teaching.  It's been sitting in the maintenance room for a year now, and I thought today, if I don't get permission to take that home today it will probably be gone the next time I think about it.

But it is perfect for my toddlers, once Mr Lemon cuts about 18" off the legs to make it more on their level.

I've had chalkboard paint envy for awhile now, and I am so pleased that I won't have to mess with that :)  The whole contraption needs a thorough scrubbing, and I may end up using chalkboard paint to refinish it if I'm not able to restore it, but it won't be on the walls.  I'm having enough trouble keeping them from coloring on the walls without adding in the confusion of "this wall is okay but not that wall."

..............................................................

I wrote all of that above on my phone while I was rocking my little girl to sleep tonight, then when I finally laid her down to bed I went and worked my magic on the chalkboard.  You may not be able to tell, but I did wash it top to bottom.  The chalkboard itself is not actual slate, it's probably just a piece of wood with chalkboard paint on it, because I can see wood grain underneath all the dirt.  It's scratched, but not too scratched for Momma to do a little artwork for the kiddos to see in the morning.  

You likey?