Crafty Project: Ombre or Chalkboard Wooden Paperweights

I found these doorknobs when I was looking around a craft shop and had to find something to do with them. Something this perfectly round and wooden can't just be a doorknob. So I took them home, stared at them for a while, and came up with an idea: paperweights. Ombre or chalkboard--take your pick.


For either project, you will need:
• Wax paper or butcher paper to paint on (to protect your table)
• Wooden doorknobs
• Washi or painter's tape
• Matches or toothpicks
• Painting sponge brushes or paint brushes

For ombre paperweights, you will need:
• One bottle of colored acrylic paint (I used Seafoam)
• One bottle of white acrylic paint

For chalkboard paperweights, you will need:
• Chalkboard paint (I used Rust-oleum Latex)
• One bottle of colored acrylic paint (I used Metallic Gold)


To start, coat each doorknob with the initial color. For ombre, that would be the darkest color (i.e. straight out of the bottle). For the chalkboard paperweight, in this case would be gold. Put several coats of the paint--drying to the touch between coats--until you can no longer see the wood. Use the matches or toothpicks inside the hole on the bottom to balance to knob and therefore, cover the entire knob with paint.


After the coats are perfectly dry, place your washi tape or painter's tape around the entire knob in order to paint your second color. You can choose how big or small you want your stripes to be.


Gradually add white to the color until you have a definitively lighter shade. Paint the entire knob above the Washi tape with as many coats as needed to cover. Allow for drying, repeat (with new Washi tape each time), all the way to the top with lighter and lighter shades as you go.


After you are completely finished with your stripes, all the way to the top of the knob, allow to dry for about 30 minutes to ensure that each color has set. Next, take a clean sponge brush or paint brush, dip in water and coat the entire knob. Relatively forcefully, make brush strokes up and down the knob with water so that the colors begin to bleed into one another. Do this until you are satisfied, then dry with a paper towel. Voila! Ombre!


The chalkboard paperweights are a bit easier. After covering the knob with your bottom color (gold), allow to dry, then tape off the knob with Washi or painter's tape.


Cover the remaining portion of the knob in several coats of chalkboard paint. Allow to dry.
Peel the tape off slowly to ensure that the line is straight and neat.


You're done! After the knob is dry, grab some chalk and write away! You can erase with an eraser or a bit of water for a cleaner look.