A pretty nifty little idea that leaves so much room to customize your cake display. Decorate your cake with swirls, flowers, hearts or whatever you like. If you have a theme then you can incorporate this into the design (eg. for travel you could have planes and trains). Is someone special making your cake for you? You could write “made with love by …..” or even write the type of cake that it is.

To make it you will need:

  • 9mm ply wood cut to size (or shape)… mine was 60cm x 60cm
  • Some chalkboard paint
  • A mini roller and tray
  • Some fine grade sand paper

Once you have cut your ply wood to the size or shape that you desire, give it a light sanding to prepare.

Give it the first coat of chalkboard paint. Don’t apply it too thickly. Better many thin coats that dry quickly rather than fewer thicker coats is what I found.

Allow to dry between applications. You will need a total of about 6 thin coats.

When you have finished and the chalkboard is ready, then this is when the fun begins. Have a look online for inspiration and practice your design on a piece of paper. Baker’s paper can be good for this. If you are planning on placing your cake in your design like I have, cut a template of your cake size and work around it. Once you are happy, take a grey lead pencil and lightly sketch the design on your chalkboard.

When you’re done, trace the design with your chalk. You can use a chalk marker if you prefer, I just like the rustic look of real chalk. Build up sections of your text and apply accent lines . Don’t stress if you make a mistake, just take a damp microfibre cloth and wipe away the error. Wait to dry and try again!

I played with a few different designs as you can see.