DIY BlackBoard Clipboard for Back to School

Tis the season for bells to ring… school bells that is! Summer flew by and is almost gone, and so are all of the back to school supplies. Do you have your back to school supply list ready?

1. Paper – Check.
2. Pencils – Check.
3. Cute “Back to School” chalkboard sign that I see all over Pinterest – CHECK!

Just where do you get these back to school chalkboard signs you ask? Well today is your lucky day because I’m going to show you how to make one using Siser® EasyPSV® BlackBoard! Actually, you don’t even necessarily need a vinyl cutter to make this project. But since this blog post is titled “How To Use EasyPSV removable BlackBoard then I should probably show you how to cut it at least. And no, this is not messy chalkboard paint!

The beauty of working with adhesive vinyl (all EasyPSV products) is you can decorate almost any hard surface with it. For this chalkboard sign, you can use a piece of wood, plastic or even cardboard if you want! I’m going to use (or re-use!) an old clipboard that I have lying around here to make into my sign. Since this chalkboard vinyl is removable, I can restore my clipboard back to normal after taking some pictures with the kiddos.

Start out by loading your EasyPSV Chalkboard into your vinyl cutter face-side-up (color side up.) Any vinyl cutter will do, but I’m using the Silhouette Cameo 3!  I’m going to cut a basic rectangle slightly larger than my clipboard. Don’t forget, since this is a thicker vinyl, be sure to check out the cutter settings on our website. While you’re there, you’ll also find that EasyPSV removable BlackBoard is CPSIA Certified. That’s right kids, it’s safe to use in playrooms and more!

When the cutter is finished doing it’s thing, unload the vinyl and weed away (remove) the excess vinyl from your design. Make sure to weed the vinyl away slowly. Again, since it’s a thicker vinyl, it will not feel as soft as our standard products such as EasyPSV Permanent and EasyPSV Removable.

Make sure your surface is squeaky clean prior to applying the EasyPSV. Usually a couple drops of water along with a lint-free cloth will do the trick. Sometimes I’ll use isopropyl alcohol or dish soap to clean extra-dirty surfaces.

Now that we have our surface ready and our vinyl cut and weeded, it’s time for the application. Grab a piece of EasyPSV Application Tape and cut it a little bigger than your chalkboard piece.

Remove the liner to expose the adhesive and, using a squeegee, carefully lay it down on top of the removable BlackBoard vinyl.

Once adhered, go ahead and remove the liner away from EasyPSV  removable BlackBoard.

When applying the vinyl to your surface, in this case, it’s easiest to start in the middle of your graphic and work outwards. Glide the squeegee back and forth until the entire piece of chalkboard vinyl is adhered to your surface.  (PRO TIP: Lightly squeegee at first. This way if you get any bubbles you can gently lift the vinyl up and remove it with ease). Give one last scrape with the squeegee and then remove the application tape.

To trim the edges of your sign, all you need is a handy little hobby knife (or something similar.) Turn the sign around and carefully trim away the removable BlackBoard vinyl that’s draping over your surface. Also, you might notice I trimmed around the grommets on the back of the clipboard and then I colored them in with a black sharpie marker. I didn’t want the silver sticking out and causing a camera glare.

We are now ready to decorate! Any standard soft chalk works great, but my go-to is chalkboard markers. They come in a variety of colors (including metallic!) but be careful with those…they could stain your new EasyPSV removableBlackBoard sign. When you’re ready to draw something new, just wipe the surface with a wet cloth for a fresh blank slate!

In other exciting chalk news… we revealed a heat transfer vinyl version of EasyPSV removable BlackBoard that we’re calling BlackBoard® HTV! This amazing material was first launched by our mother company, Siser Italy, at FESPA earlier in 2018. You can see their video on BlackBoard HTV here.

Now, BlackBoard has won the 2018 SGIA Product of the Year Award for Cuttable Heat Transfer Materials. We’re so honored to have won!