Make Your Own Faux Chalkboard Ornaments

These cute little faux chalkboard ornaments are easy to make, with few materials, and are totally customizable. Make them for your friends and family this holiday season!

It’s no secret that I love chalkboards. I have them all over my house, and I keep finding ways to make things into chalkboards because I just can’t get enough of that simple black and white vintage look.

Last year I made one of my favorite projects ever, a chalkboard banner, using black foam board. It looks and works just like a real chalkboard, and it’s been hanging in my front entry ever since. So this year as I was decorating for Christmas, I decided to make matching chalkboard ornaments for the tree that we put up just inside our entryway.

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DIY Chalkboard Ornaments

I had to switch up my methods a little, but I found a fun and easy way to make your own chalkboard ornaments, using just a few basic supplies. Here’s how:

Just kidding, first let me tell you how NOT to make these.

I tried making these using the same process as in my banner project, but it turned out to be waaaay too hard to cut through the foam board in intricate (or even basic) shapes. Turns out the foam board is perfect for cutting straight lines like for the pennant shapes in the banner, but it’s way too thick for cutting around curves.

Sometimes my ideas get a little ahead of my abilities.

After much frustration on my part, and trying three different kinds of knives/scissors/cutters, I realized that you would curse my name if I tried to talk you into taking on this project.

So I took a hint from another recent project, my gingerbread house banner, and switched to black poster board. This works just like the foam board but is so much easier to cut.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your ornaments:

• My free printable ornament template – read on for how to get yours
• Black poster board or black card stock
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Hole Punch
• Chalk or chalk marker
• Jute Twine

How to Make your Ornaments

First, print your template. Cut out each shape around the outside edge.

Lay each shape on your black paper and trace around them with a pencil or piece of chalk. (Keep the template shapes for later to give you ideas for how to decorate your ornaments.)

Use your scissors to cut out the ornament shapes you’ve traced on the black paper.

With your chalk or chalk marker, decorate your ornaments however you like. You can use the lines on the templates to give you ideas about where to draw swirls, lines, and patterns, but feel free to use your imagination. One of my favorite decorating ideas is to personalize each ornament with someone’s name.

With the hole punch, make a hole near the top center of each ornament. Some of the template shapes have indicators where the holes should be punched. If not, punch the hole about 1/4 inch from the top.

Cut a piece of twine about 9 inches long, thread it through the hole at the top of the ornament, and tie a knot in it. Feel free to embellish with a wooden bead or other decorations like mini jingle bells!

DIY Chalkboard Ornament Tips and Tricks

Chalk is fun and easy to use (and cheap!) but chalk markers or even white paint pens will give you the look while being a little more permanent on the paper. So if you want the option of changing your designs or messages in the future, use chalk. (Yes, you can wipe it off, just like a real chalkboard!) But if you want to give these as a gift, the chalk marker or paint pen will keep it intact for the recipient.

If you are doing this for a kid’s craft project, you can use black contact paper. It won’t be as durable and the colors won’t be as crisp, but it would make a fun holiday craft for the classroom while really working those scissor skills!

If you want to get real fancy with some advanced DIY skills, you could use this same template and cut the shapes out of wood with a jigsaw or band saw. Then simply paint with chalkboard paint and you have actual chalk board ornaments that would make a great heirloom gift. I stopped short at the paper version, once the foam board got the best of me, so you get bragging rights if you try this, and I’d love to hear about it!

These ornaments aren’t just for the tree! They would be a great way to add a personal touch to your gift wrapping too.

Have fun with this project! The holidays are all about spending time together and doing things we don’t normally get to do. So gather some friends or family and make this a fun group project.