BIG FAMILY / small apartment: Love Chalkboards! (A Tutorial)

So my latest project has been making chalkboards for each of my children. Even though I have 4 children at home, the 5th child at college has put in an order for a chalkboard too. So that means I'm making (at least) five.
For this first chalkboard the frame came to me free. It was actually a frame around a print that my mom gave to me. Now, I know my mom is reading this so I'm going to be very polite and let her know that the ~~ugly~~ unique and unusual print ~~went to a neighbor's house~~ sold on eBay for a tidy sum. I know that would make her very happy.
This frame started off as an old gold color, like many of them do. My 13 year old daughter wanted a very bright chalkboard frame though. So here's what I did:

I gathered some bright green "oops" paint. Can't beat that price for a quart of Valspar, semi-gloss paint + primer!

Then I relied on my longstanding relationship with Martha. I just love the Martha Stewart Metallic Glaze Specialty Finishes. I have almost all of them and use them regularly in my projects. This color is a rich brown called 'Muscovado'.

Then I made this! Here's a close up for you. Sorry no before pics, but I'm working on it.

See why I love this shiny glaze so much?

After the frame was finished I moved on to the chalkboard part. At Home Depot you can get 1/8" smooth plywood, and they even cut it for you. So for ALL of my chalkboard projects it cost me about $5 for the wood to make the chalkboards with, and ~~my husband~~ I didn't have to saw anything.

At home I primed each board. I like to use Kilz spray primer for projects like these. A little can goes a long way.

Then I sanded and wiped down each board.

Next I got out the chalkboard paint and a foam brush. I use lots of this stuff on my projects. I actually have chalkboard spray paint and Valspar chalkboard paint. Determining which one to use really just depends on the project.

~~My children~~ I painted each board with 3 coats of chalkboard paint. With each coat we would change the direction that we were painting. After it was dry all we had to do was put it in the frame!

Here's a picture of it on my daughter's dresser. I wonder what kind of notes she's going to leave me now..."Mom, can you get some [insert random item here]!"