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All things vintage are totally in right now and I couldn’t be happier about it! Thank you JoAnna Gaines! Awhile back I purchased a set of antique french doors from a man who works at a window company. He replaces old with new and had saved the doors as well as a couple of unique windows with plans to fix them up. He finally decided to sell when he never got around to the project. His loss is my gain! I bought the lot solely for the amazing doors and the poor windows hung out in my garage for a year gathering dust. My son accidentally knocked them over recently and broke the last remaining glass. While cleaning up the mess, I looked at the windows again and had an idea! I should explain that these windows were in pretty rough condition. Being more than 100 years old can do that! The final product isn’t perfect but I enjoy the character, the dings, and discoloration bring. Doesn’t our Magnolia Wreath look beautiful paired with the window?!

Here is a supply list of items I used:

This is the backside of the window. The glass has all been cleared out and a lot of the mold that held the glass in has been stripped away as well. The lovely purple paint (and the 10 layers of white, off white, dark green and light green) was still there. 🙂

The first thing I did was use this handy oscillating tool to trip the molding that would have held each piece of glass. Notice the nails. Be careful when cutting so not to ruin your blade cutting those! Unless you have a blade that cuts metal as well. Trimming this wood made for a flat surface to lay my chalkboard into later.

The remaining nails were trimmed using a pair of snips.

After trimming the wood molding.

Some of the nails were missing so I added some wood glue to help hold the frame together.

I added paint stripper to the lovely purple paint. The instructions say to wait 15 minutes before trying to remove. I’m super impatient and didn’t wait. This caused way more work! Lesson learned. Wait the 15 minutes!! You might have to use the stripper a couple of times, depending on how many layers of paint but removal goes faster when you let the paint stripper actually do its job.

Here’s after the second coat of stripper. I was in the process of peeling the rest of the purple off. The last little bit of green and white I ended up sanding off.

I sanded both front and back.

I gave the window a good wipe down to get all the sanding residue off. I then sprayed on a clear coat. The cute little fingers in the picture are my daughter’s. She wanted so badly to help and I figured she really couldn’t go too wrong with a clear spray coat.

For my chalkboard, I opted for sheet metal instead of wood. I wanted to be able to use magnets on it as well. My handsome hubby was able to cut this to size using a hand saw with a metal cutting blade.

I sprayed three coats to make sure my coverage was good. It would be a good idea to do a light sanding after your final coat with a fine grit sandpaper. I didn’t do this and I now notice a few small bumps of paint here and there. It’s not a huge distraction but I wish I would have done this before I put my window together. Also, use the side of a piece of chalk and run it all over the chalkboard and then wipe off. This helps give a used, vintage feel to the brand new chalkboard.

To hold the chalkboard in place, some scrap wood was cut to size and nailed into the outside frame.

I’m in love with the finished product and see so many ways to use my new chalkboard!! Here’s something I came up with for September. I was able to print out my kids’ first day of school pictures and displayed them using mini magnets. I’m already thinking of Halloween, fall and Christmas ideas! What fun ways would you use this window chalkboard??