My DIY: Chalkboard Paint Wine Glasses

      A friend of mine is trying to get her Premier Jewelry business launched, so I agreed to help her out by hosting a party. I recently moved to a new apartment (okay, it's been a couple months) and haven't had much time for getting my girlfriends together so I am excited to play hostess, get together, drink wine, and look at jewelry. I previously saw a Pinterest post about Chalkboard Wine Glasses and have been super excited for the chance to do this project, and the Premier party is the perfect excuse for me to make my own!
     I was originally going to make a dozen glasses, but I was thinking about how much (or rather, little) cabinet space my apartment has and decided to go with a baker's dozen instead. I bought the glasses from the Dollar Tree because although the glasses are not the highest quality, they are actual glass, look nice, and are perfect for this project. When I was checking out at the Dollar Store, my debit card wasn't working for some reason (even though I definitely have money), and the lady behind me paid for my stuff! I insisted it wasn't necessary and was going to come back with cash but she paid anyways. Super sweet, definitely the highlight of my week! I quickly went to the bank and back to try and repay the lady, but she was already gone (which I figured, but I tried anyways). After that super awkward turned awesome moment, I bought some chalkboard paint from Home Depot. They have a chalkboard paint that you can tint to a select 12 colors, and I thought that purple (my favorite color) or something might be cute, but I also wanted a color that would fit multiple occasions, so I decided on basic black. I had the thought of buying the tint-able chalkboard paint and doing multiple different colors myself at home, but after speaking with the lady at the paint counter, I was informed that the colors they mix into the paint are special types of dyes and not easy to mix or get off skin. 
     After getting my supplies, I covered my counter in newspaper (The Boise Weekly, to be precise. An actual newspaper would have been better because the pages are larger), and laid everything out. The supplies are simple: Wine glasses, chalkboard paint, cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, sponge-brush, and disposable plastic bowl. I used a re-usable container that I had from the small side dishes (like mashed potatoes) at KFC and it was the PERFECT size. I filled the paint just a tad too much, but with the size of that container, I was able to dip the base of the glass all the way in and touch the bottom and it covered to just above the bump on the glass where the base meets the stem. I highly recommend using this same container (remember, the small side from KFC, like if you were to order a single-person meal) because it seriously was the prefect size for holding the paint and dipping the glasses. Even if you don't eat that type of food, recycle it from someone else or find a container of a similar size. After dipping the glasses into the paint, I let it drip back into the bowl and used the sponge paint brush to wipe off the excess. It still left paint on the bottom, but only a thin layer so it didn't dry funny and make the glasses stand uneven, plus that part is going to be set onto a counter or something anyways. Once there was a fairly even coat of the paint on the base, I put the glasses onto the parchment-covered cookie sheet (you can always just lay parchment paper onto a couple layers of newspaper and skip the cookie sheet as long as the surface is flat) and let them sit for about 20-30 minutes. While they sat there, the excess slid off and created a weird little pool around the base of the glass, so I made sure to move them to a fresh piece of parchment paper so that they could dry smooth all around. I let them sit overnight and the next morning they were completely dry and looked great! There are a couple rough spots where excess paint dried, but overall they look awesome and I can't wait to use them.