The Story of Plata Chalkboards
The Party
My husband’s parents are amazing people, so when their 50th wedding anniversary was approaching, we knew we had to do something special. We organized a good old fashioned square dance and BBQ at a campground in Amish Country, PA. Cousins, uncles, aunts all came from all over the country to celebrate. For a special memento, we set up a photo booth with fun props (hats, boas, bandanas, etc) and an instant camera so everyone could snap a pic and put it in a photo album. One of the props was a tiny chalkboard.
The Idea
After we got back home, I was looking for something interesting to decorate my front door for the holidays. I was so bored of my typical wreath…then I saw the little chalkboard. I grabbed my daughters chalk and wrote “Merry Christmas” and stuck some pine boughs and hung it on my front door. I fell in love with it. It felt so personal. When Easter came around, I erased and wrote a new message. My family and friends loved it just as much as I did, but just rolled their eyes at me when I said they could make their own boards. Then one night, I had one of those stereotypical “AHA!” moments. If the chalkboards were magnetic & it had magnetic stencils…anyone could write on a chalkboard! No taping of flimsy jiggly stencils! I started making my own stencils for my family and friends. I loved the result, perfect calligraphy every time. It was all just a hobby…until the company I worked for had a round of lay-offs. I lost my job of 10 years just 9 days before Christmas. Like any family, we were devastated. That’s when we knew we all had to work together to make Plata Chalkboards a reality.
Plata
Almost every kid has that one special stuffy, my daughters is a purple platypus named Plata. Plata goes EVERYWHERE with us- every store, park, vacation. She’s her bestie and we all talk to her like she’ll answer us back. When we were thinking of a name for our chalkboards we made lists all their attributes…waterproof, unique, fun…just like our beloved Plata!
Plata Chalkboards
We have now have a patent pending (!) and are super excited about launching Plata Chalkboards. We found a manufacturer to help us create a product line of high quality wreath chalkboards, oval chalkboards and giant porch chalkboards. The individual magnetic letter & design stencils make it easy to write your message for your home. The water based paint chalk markers were formulated to withstand heavy rain, but remove with vinegar or acetone. It’s been a long road for our family, but Plata Chalkboards is finally here!
