DIY Chalkboard Welcome Sign

If there's one thing I've learned from all the amazing blogs out there, it's that often you can make something more easily than you think for less money than it takes to buy it. It might take a little more time than just grabbing it off the shelf, but in the long run, you are saving money and I personally take a lot of pride in my DIY projects. I look through catalogs, magazines, blogs and of course Pinterest to find inspiration and a lot of instructions on how to do things on my own.

After Halloween, I stopped into Michael's and found this little beauty for $1.89. You can see the upside down price tag showing it was originally $8.99. It's not hideous, but I wouldn't spend nine bucks on it. But for $1.89, I saw this with a different purpose in mind.

All I did was cover it with a coat of black chalkboard paint. I did brush a second coat on a couple spots where the brighter color was still showing through, but that's it. So easy! Then I picked up some cool chalkboard pens at Michael's using a coupon and voila... a new chalkboard sign. I like that the pens make the white a little bolder and they still wipe off with a wet cloth.

I hung the sign above some family pictures on a little wall near our front door. I like that I can change up the message and I love that it cost me $6, including the small can of chalkboard paint that will be used for other future projects I'm sure.

The full wall gives a better idea of the proportions of the display. The front door is to the left of this wall and the garage door is to the right. The photos and the chalkboard sign feel like a nice welcome to our home.



Linking up to...

Thanksgiving Kid's Crafts Packs

My kids have been acting a little annoying restless lately. They're a little harder to entertain. They're a little more sassy. And the telltale sign... they are driving their mama CRAZY.

I think it started over fall break, when we didn't have as much to do as usual and I didn't do enough in advance to ward off the boredom. Since then, I have been flat exhausted. Our little man is waking up several times each night and I'm not sure why. It could be teething. It could be separation anxiety. Whatever it is, it's keeping me up all night every night, or at least that's how it feels.

The result is an overtired, not-so-patient mama who doesn't have a lot of tolerance for umm anything. Enter Pinterest and some awesome craft ideas for kiddos from some very crafty folks.

The Five Ps

Have you ever heard of the Five Ps? It goes a little something like this "Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" or if you're like my mom, there are actually six Ps "Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance." Either way you go, it's pretty right on, especially when it comes to home projects, sewing, crafts, etc. 

Yesterday was a perfect example of what happens when you don't plan ahead appropriately. I had a babysitter for a few hours and it was a nice day so it seemed like a good time to get a few spray-painting projects done. My little ones are too up in my business still for stuff like that so it's not something that can be done with them playing nearby. It started out as a great plan. I only had two small items from the local thrift store that I wanted to paint.

I actually like the candle-holder as is, but I wanted it for our mantel and the lime green doesn't jive with the rest of the decor so a little paint to the rescue. The jug was super cute but a little too country for me. Again I thought a little paint would do the trick. 

I had just finished priming them and spraying on the first coat when I heard the gardeners in the front yard. Awesome. Quickly I ran to the front yard and told the head gardener not to let anyone use the blower in the back corner of our yard, thinking this would prevent dust from blowing all over my freshly-painted, not yet dry projects. Unfortunately when I got back to my little work station, the lawnmower in the front yard had already kicked up a bunch of dust. Luckily not too much damage was done since the paint had dried pretty quickly. 

The jug turned out very simple but still shows the imprint of the label. 

I like the black on the candle holder even though the lime green was fun. The black definitely works better in our house.

I also turned a few old paperbacks (which were not good in case you're wondering and I am not sure why I kept them or why I have two copies??) into a knock-off Ballard book bundle for the mantel. I'll show the full mantel when it's all done... hopefully before we have guests this weekend ;)

Gotta love Instagram! It turns the most mediocre blah picture into something awesome. I hope you enjoyed the adventures of a spray-painting newbie! 

What's your favorite thing that you've transformed with a little paint?

Summer Pinterest Challenge

If you're anything like me, you pin and pin and pin but never do anything but admire all those pretty pins. Kate over at Centsational Girl and a few others decided it was time to stop simply admiring and actually get to work trying out some of those projects. To inspire others to do the same, they started a quarterly Pinterest challenge. All you have to do is find something that you've pinned and actually make it. Simple enough right?? 

You can check out what Kate made and be inspired to be a DIY woodworking guru and then you can see what I made below and feel better about not being a goddess of do-it-yourself projects :)

My inspiration came from Angie at The Country Chic Cottage. She gives a great tutorial with far more detail and effort so you should check it out. I also used a letter H (for our last name) but you could easily adapt this for any letter or number. So here's the version I found on Pinterest a long time ago and am just now recreating...

I love the distressed look but I made mine using an Ikea frame that I had on hand and I'm happy with it for now. Here's mine...

I attached heavy white cardstock to the backing of the frame and used Microsoft Word to print out a large H in the style I wanted. I traced the H with chalk on the burlap and then cut it out. 

I think I'd like to put it in a distressed frame at some point but for an afternoon project, this went together really easily.

Thanks, Angie for an easy and inspiring craft project!

This is How I Roll

Recently our friends’ twins turned 3 years old and we needed some birthday presents. Obviously there are two of them so in my mind, the presents need to be somewhat equal in cost and as far as the “coolness factor” goes. In other words, you don’t get one twin a fabulous toy and the other socks and undies. You don’t want to cause unnecessary drama for someone who is already dealing with the inevitable crazy that raising two children of the same age can bring. I also hate to spend too much on something that they may not even like a few months down the road. Knowing my own child’s frequent change in interest, I’d rather get something they can use in the short-term without breaking the bank. This is where Lindsey of The Pleated Poppy comes in to save the day.
Lindsey has an online shop full of adorable items that she makes herself. One of the cutest things she makes are her Crayon Rolls. And just last week, she very conveniently posted a tutorial, just in time for the twins’ birthday party. This could not have been an easier project and turned out really well despite my tendency to be impatient and skip through insignificant details like measuring. The twins are a boy and a girl so I chose cute fabric for each and I was happy with the result.



I packed these up with some coloring books, stickers and a little t-shirt for each one. It wasn’t too expensive and turned out to be a great birthday package.