Im making a back to school cake and i wanted it to look like a chalkboard. would i use black fondant for the chalkboard and royal icing for the chalk writing? any tips appreciated. thanks!

That sounds exactly right to me!

I always prefer buttercream! You can get it really black, and then the white buttercream frosting makes for yummy chalk writing!

I used black fondant for the board and I painted the chalk on with a brush using white petal dust mixed with a little alchohol. There is a pic in my gallery of one.

I use barco powders , but really the white is just titanium oxide . some of the others may be able to help you where to find it where you live .
Any high percentage alchohol will do , I think you have a brand called Everclear, but vodka, lemon essence etc will work fine..

If you mix a little edible varnish in too the white won't smear or come off if you brush against it whilst decorating. If you dab most of the white off your brush on a clean cloth first before painting it on the black you'll get a good chalk-like effect too
Can't wait to see your pic!

thank you guys so much for the helpful tips! im going to go out and hopefully get all my materials today. i will definatly post a pic when im finished

here it is, the white powder mixed with clear vanilla extract worked great for the chalk writing. this is my first ever time working with fondant, the black as you see was a little dry unfortunatly. its far from perfect.

couldnt upload the file so heres a link to it in my gallery on here.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2401638/back-to-school

That cake turned out really great, jg21410! I´m going to have to remember the solution to the chalk problem, because I'm always wanting to make end-of-year and back-to-school cakes and cupcakes for my granddaughter and her friends.