DIY Chalkboard

I have been SO busy this past week!  My daughter and I were at church all week for VBS, we had company over for dinner on Tuesday night, and I had two appointments during the week!  Needless to say...we're tired!  Especially my daughter!

I finished up this chalkboard last week, but I finally had some time today to sit down at the computer and write up the blog post!  

I found this frame at a garage sale.  It was originally a mirror, but once I cleaned it up, I noticed a small scratch.  Sound familiar?  I obviously need to be more diligent about checking things out thoroughly before purchasing them!  Here it is fresh from the garage sale.

I didn't want to use it as a mirror even if the scratch was really small, so I took the mirror out and replaced it with hardboard.  We got a big sheet of it since I'm sure I'll be using more of it in the future!  

My husband  cut out the size I needed for my project (because I think he not-so-secretly enjoys helping me when it involves power tools!) and I sprayed it with spray primer.  I wasn't going to prime it, but the hubby thought the chalkboard paint would soak in too much on such a porous surface.  So, I decided to listen to his wisdom just this once and prime it!  Haha!

After two light coats of primer, I was ready for the chalkboard paint.  I used the paint you have to brush or roll on as opposed to the spray stuff.  No reason, really.  That's just what I used for my last chalkboard project and we had a ton left over, so that's what I used!  Here is the hardboard painted with chalkboard paint.

I used a foam brush when I painted with the chalkboard paint this time.  I will say, as you can see in the next picture, it does leave a texture to board.  I'm still debating on whether or not I like the texture.  I think if I knew I was going to sell a piece, I'd use a small roller to apply the paint for a smoother finish.  

After the paint dried for 24 hours (okay, maybe a little less!), I rubbed a piece of chalk all over the board.  See the texture come out?  Apparently you have to rub the chalk on and then wipe it off to make chalk work on it.  I don't know if that's true or not, but I've heard it so many times that I just do it every time now!

Next, I had to attach the chalkboard to the frame.  I tried wood glue at first, but it just didn't hold, so I tacked a few finishing nails into the back of the frame to hold it in there securely.  

I am hoping to eventually have a gallery wall on our living room wall filled with family pictures and I knew I wanted this to be included in it somehow.  But since this is the first piece, I don't know exactly where it is going to end up on the wall.  So, I used Command adhesives to hang it.  It's much better than using a nail, since I may end up moving it in the future.

I believe there are specific Command adhesives for picture hanging, but these are left over from a hook we had once used and they worked perfectly for this.  I may use the picture hanging strips for the rest of the pieces on the gallery wall, so that I can change them around if I want...and I won't have a bunch of holes in the wall!

I should add in here before I go too far, that I painted the frame with  Annie Sloan chalk paint in Provence and then used a coat of clear wax over that.  The frame does look a little distressed/dirty and that's because I was using dark wax on something else before I waxed this frame, so my brush had some dark wax on it already.  I'm okay with that, though!  I think it turned out nicely!


Now, on to the rosettes.  I already had made the canvas rosette for a different project, but ended up using it on this.  I put it on the frame and felt like it needed a little something extra, so I made the yellow one.  To make a rosette, first you cut (or rip) a strip of fabric.  This one is a little small, so the rosette turned out a little small.  The bigger you want your rosette to be, the bigger (longer AND thicker) you need to cut your fabric strip.

As you can see, the edges can be a little jagged.  It just adds to the character of the flower!  

Next, tie a knot in the end of the fabric strip.  Then you just start twisting the fabric and turning from the knot.  I don't have a picture of this part because my husband was sleeping at the time and I was working on this alone.

I kind of "winged" it as I went anyway, so a picture probably wouldn't do you any good!  I think it's good to wing it sometimes and just let it turn out how it's gonna turn out!  ;)

And here is my rosette!    

I used hot glue to keep the rosette together.  I just picked several places on the back and front to dab a little glue, held it for a couple seconds each time, and it held together just fine.  I also used the hot glue to attach the rosettes to the chalkboard frame.  Just a couple dabs and they were good to go!

Here are a couple shots of the final product.  

As you can see, it looks a little strange just hanging on the wall above our couch all by its lonesome.  But as I find more garage sale frames, I'll be adding to my gallery wall collection! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I really appreciate all the comments being left lately!  I'm definitely feeling loved!  :)  

I'm linking up to the following blogs to share my project!

Cherished Bliss - Craft and Tell

Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On

Domestically Speaking - The Power of Paint Party

{Primp} - Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Embracing Change - Creative Inspirations

Restore Interiors - Restored it Wednesday

Liz Marie Blog - Link Up With Me, Liz Marie

House of Hepworths - Hookin Up With HoH

Freckled Laundry - {air your laundry friday} Textile Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

Magnetic Burlap Memo Board

I got this piece at a garage sale for $1.  Originally it was a mirror and I was intending to keep it that way.  Until I got it into the trunk of my car and realized that some of the mirror “treatment” was flaking off.   Here is the before shot.  

And here you can see the detail of where the mirror was flaking off.   

I saw it and immediately thought I had just spent one dollar on trash.  I’d just have to throw it away when I got home.  One for the “lesson learned” file.  

Well, somewhere between then and now I had a brilliant idea.  Why not try to take the mirror out and see if I can still use this cool frame for another purpose?  I thought about making it into a chalkboard, but had done a chalkboard recently and thought I should try something else.  When I went to the flea market a couple weeks ago I picked up some great burlap sacks (which I forgot to picture on that post).  I was thinking of using them for another project – and still am – but I thought about this frame that I didn’t know what to do with and it came to me to make a burlap memo board.  

After I took out the mirror, I painted the frame with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor's Silk (red).  Then I painted over that in a light pink ASCP color, Antoinette.  Once the red color was totally covered and the paint was dry, I used a damp rag to rub off some of the pink paint in places.  It is a fun way of distressing that I've really enjoyed the most, I think.  It gives me freedom to make it look the way I want and I don't get a ton of "scratch" marks from using sand paper.

At first I was going to make it a cork board and use push pins, but I’ve never been a huge fan of push pins, so I decided to make it magnetic.  I bought a piece of sheet metal from The Home Depot and laid the burlap over it, but you could see the metal through it.  After wracking my brain, I came up with an idea.  We have these old, ugly, faded pillowcases on our guest bed that I absolutely hate, but haven’t been willing to replace.  Well, they just so happen to be the perfect color.  So, I cut one of the pillowcases in half and glued the sheet metal to it (which I had already glued to a piece of foam board to help stabilize it) and then wrapped the burlap around the whole thing and glued that down.  

 Now you can’t see the metal and you can’t even tell that there is that thin piece of fabric behind the burlap.  AND, it’s not too thick that magnets won’t stick to it, which is what I was nervous about.  I am not selling this piece (unless someone is REALLY interested in it).  It is going in my daughter’s room which we are slowly changing over from a nursery to a big girl room.  This is the jumping off point along with the pillow I shared with you last week.  I think the memo board looks a little out of place where it is now, but I am not really sure how we're going to arrange the furniture once we're all done and I wanted to get this on  the wall now.  So, there it hangs...for now!

Thanks again for stopping by the blog today.  Sorry about such a long post!  I feel like I want to share my steps and thought process behind the pieces I create, but I don't want my readers to be bored by a long, dragged out post.  So, what do you think?  Should I keep my posts short and sweet or do you like me to explain what's going on in my head?!  Please leave me a comment with YOUR thoughts...and be honest.  I can take it!  :)

I'm linking up to the following blogs to share my project!

Cherished Bliss - Craft and Tell

Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On

Domestically Speaking - The Power of Paint Party

{Primp} - Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Embracing Change - Creative Inspirations

Restore Interiors - Restored it Wednesday

Liz Marie Blog - Link Up With Me, Liz Marie

House of Hepworths - Hookin Up With HoH
Freckled Laundry - {air your laundry friday} Textile Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

I sewed my first pillow cover ... and Rylan’s big girl bedroom design ideas

This weekend I sewed my very first pillow cover.  I already had a pillow form that had an ugly cover on it, so I just made a new one!  My in-laws were here this past weekend and my mother-in-law helped me with the pillow cover.  She walked me through it and was there for me to ask questions of, but didn’t really do any of the work.  Which I’m really happy about.  I learn best by doing things myself and having someone there to bounce questions and ideas off of.

Here is the pillow!  

And here is the back.

I’m so happy with how it turned out!  As you can see in the backside picture, I made an envelope cover, and it was surprisingly easy.  I followed this tutorial which was very straight forward and easy to understand.

This pillow will go in my daughter, Rylan’s room.  She is 21 months old and we are starting to transition her to a “big girl” room.  I don’t know what the normal age is for that, but we feel like she’s ready.  We took the side off her crib two and a half months ago and she’s been doing great in it, so we think she’s ready for a big girl bed.  We just have to find the right one at a garage sale or something so that I can paint it and make it special just for her!  

Which brings me to the design scheme for her room.  I originally saw this first picture on Pinterest and just fell in love with the colors.

via

via

I think the dark pink in the inspiration might end up being red in Rylan's room, but I'm okay with that.

Here's another room I really liked!

via

I just love this color combination and I think we can make it work, in our own way, for Rylan’s room.

To start off, we have the fabric I used on the pillow which is called Shine On Americana by Waverly.  It has red, light blue, navy, and cream in it.  We’re just missing the pink.

I think I’ll bring my swatch back to the fabric store one of these days and see if I can find some coordinating fabrics to go with it.  And I need to find bedding that brings everything together.  The fabric is always the hardest part for me.  I guess I get scared and overwhelmed by all the choices and I think I’m going to pick the wrong ones.  

What part of a room design is the hardest for you?  Is fabric easy for you to pick out or do you struggle with it like me?

I'm linking up to the following blogs to share my project!

Freckled Laundry - {air your laundry friday} Textile Party
it all started with paint - pillowpalooza link party

Fun take on an inspiration board...

A few weeks back I shared with you my free garage sale crib spring find.  I had seen this project and had been keeping my eyes open for a spring, but never thought I’d find one...and for free at that!  

This project was SUPER easy and didn’t take long to complete.  I won’t give you a tutorial here because it wasn’t my idea...and I’m not into stealing more creative people’s ideas and pretending they’re my own.  I loved this project so much that I knew I wanted it in my own home, but I didn’t really change anything from the original because it was so cool nothing needed to be changed!  :)  So...make sure you head over to The Handmade Home and check out her tutorial...and her great blog while you’re at it!  :)

The inspiration board is above my computer in my office and I'm going to be using it for personal things like cards and pictures (as shown in these photos), but also for anything that might inspire me in interior design and/or furniture painting.  I'm so excited to have a place for all of my inspiration instead of scattered all over my desk!

Oh, and sorry about the weird fading on the pictures.  It has something to do with the way the light comes in my window, but I'm not sure how to fix that.  I'm just a beginner photographer, ya know?!  ;)

Hope you’re all having a wonderful week!  So glad the weather is starting to cool back down here in Michigan!  I’ve got a lot of projects in the middle stages of completion and I’ll be blogging about them as I get them done.

Yellow end table : The little table that could

I’m so excited to share my end table makeover with you!  You saw this shot of it in my living room update post, but I wanted to share a few before and after shots with you today.

This end table started out very sad and run down.  It looked like it had been painted by someone for their daughter’s bedroom.  It had butterflies, flowers, ...and crayon marks!  It really had seen better days and when I bought it, I was determined to give it new life.  Little did I know, it would take a lot of lovin’ to get this piece back to a happy place.  

First I stripped the paint off the whole table.  The paint was quite uneven on the table and I thought I’d better just strip it rather than sand it down.  Here’s a shot of me taking the stripper off of the top.  

I, in all of my beginner “wisdom”, figured the paint would strip off of the table the same way as it did on my nightstand top and all would be well with the world; I’d paint the table and be done.  Well, it didn’t work quite that way.  When I took the stripper off, there wasn’t wood underneath, there was this weird laminate or whatever that blue stuff is.  I figured it wasn’t that big of a deal since it was smooth, but once I got to the sides of the table all hell broke loose!  The sides were covered with press board and they started just basically disintegrating when I took the stripper off.  It got even worse when I tried to sand the surface smooth.  It was an absolute disaster and several times I debated just giving up and moving on.  But part of me wanted to see if I could actually make this work somehow.

My husband suggested covering the sides with a wood veneer so that it would be a smooth surface to work with that we knew wouldn’t fall apart.  We tried it on the sides (and he also added it to the inside of the back panel to cover up that hole you can see in the before picture) and it worked out really well.  He primed the whole table and once the primer was dry, I realized there were bubbles in the veneer!  Grrr!!  By this point I HATED this table and just wanted to throw it in the trash!  I was so over all the problems it was giving me.  But, obviously, I pushed through and was still curious if it could actually work out.  So I popped a few tiny holes in the veneer, filled the holes with glue, clamped them down and then filled the holes with wood filler once the glue was dry.  I also filled in the little dent on the top of the table with wood filler.  Once I got those spots sanded down it was finally ready for paint.  I don't have any pictures of this whole ordeal because I was so upset and embarrassed that I thought I'd just sweep this whole thing under the rug and not tell anyone about it if it didn't turn out!  Haha!

Maybe in hindsight, I wouldn’t have stripped the paint off the table and would have just sanded it down.  But I had no idea this would have happened, so I never would have known.  This experience makes me a little leary of buying painted furniture in the future (to refinish/paint) because I can’t actually see what’s underneath the paint.  I haven’t bought any painted furniture since, but I’m sure I will again...I’m just going to have to really love it!

I knew I wanted to try out some of my new Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on this table because of all the varying surface types.  I had heard that ASCP covers tons of different surfaces including stained wood, painted wood, metal, leather, and new wood, so this was the perfect test to see how this paint actually held up to three different surfaces on one piece.  I was hoping the chalk paint would help everything look cohesive once I was finished.  I mixed up one part Arles and four parts Old White to make this color and when I compared it to my ASCP color chart, it is almost identical to her Cream color.  So now I know, if I want to create this color again I can just buy the Cream color instead of having to do all that mixing!  And for an extra little surprise, I painted the inside of the drawer Duck Egg Blue.

And here it is...the finished end table in all of it's glory!

 

I still wasn’t sure about this piece until I got it totally painted, waxed, and buffed.  Every step of the way I was unsure about if I could really pull this off and makeover this piece.  I’m SO happy I persevered and didn’t give up on this piece.  I absolutley love how it turned out!  I obviously didn’t do any distressing this time.  I was not about to take any chances with having the blue show through on the top or having anything else go wrong!

The table now sits in my newly painted living room and I must say - I love it!  I’m just so happy with it, maybe partly because it is such a pretty, happy yellow color!

I'm linking up to the following blogs to share my project!

Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On

Domestically Speaking - The Power of Paint Party
{Primp} - Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Restore Interiors - Restored it Wednesday

House of Hepworths - Hookin Up With HoH
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

Living room update...almost done!

As you know, we've been working on updating our living room.  A few weeks ago I shared our progress (be sure to check out the before pictures, it's such a big change!) and now I'm back with the (almost) finished product of all our hard work!  We're finally rid of that crazy olive colored wall and we have nice, crisp, white trim.

When my husband and I started talking about how to update the house, we tossed around the idea of buying all new interior doors and trim.  The doors and trim were all a dated, orangey, stained wood and that just isn’t our style.  When we estimated how much replacing all of that would cost, we started to think of other ways we could update the look of the house while on a budget.  We decided that painting the doors and trim would be the most cost effective and since they were really in pretty decent shape, we decided to go for it.  Knowing we wanted it to look as professional as possible, we bought a really nice paint sprayer to help us with the task.  We cleared out most of the furniture from the room and taped off the areas we didn’t want to paint and got to spraying.  I realize our “really nice paint sprayer” came with a large price tag, but it was so worth it to us.  We got the spraying done SO fast.  And with a toddler running around and not being able to use the main room of the house, that was important to us.  It only took us a day to spray three coats of trim paint in the living room.  The foyer took an extra day because the trim was being stubborn and the paint wouldn’t stick to it, so we had to do some extra sanding and then re-sprayed it.  If we had done all that work by hand, it would have taken so much longer and probably wouldn’t look as clean and crisp as it does now.  We’re really happy with the finish the spraying left on our trim.  It looks very professional.

After we got all the spraying done, we primed the walls and then picked out a wall color and started painting.  The color we chose is called Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams.  It’s the same color as the inside of our pantry.  I should mention that I am terrible at picking paint colors for walls.  I absolutely hate it.  I don’t know what it is about it, but it is so hard for me.  We ended up trying about 8 different colors before we ended up choosing the color we did.  Our walls looked like they had the chicken pox because we had so many samples painted everywhere!  When we were done painting, I was a little, okay a lot, nervous about the color.  I thought it looked too gray, cold, and modern.  I was a little stressed since we had taken so much time trying to find the perfect color and then it didn’t look like I had envisioned it.  But when we got all of our furniture back in the room, it really warmed it up and made it feel more like “us”.  I’m really happy with it now and I think as we add more accessories, pictures, etc. it will look and feel just like we as a family want it to.  We definitely need some sort of focal wall over the couch.  I’m thinking a gallery wall of all different sized frames with family photos in them.  I think it will be fun and different!

Here you can see the hallway to the right.  We have one painted door, but the rest of the doors and trim haven't been painted yet.  We're getting there!

I’ll share more as we get more done (including more info on that cute yellow end table next to the couch!), but I wanted to show you the major progress we made.  I know we want to paint the rest of the house, but we are going to take it slow and do projects as they fit in our budget.  I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

A painted frame - my first experience with chalk paint

Hey blog readers!  Sorry I’ve been away for a little while.  I’ve been painting and wood filler-ing and sanding and painting and wood filler-ing and sanding...  You get the idea!  I’ve been busy and I’ve been LOVING it!  I’m really enjoying painting and that makes me happy!

I wanted to share my first small project using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint with you today.  I had heard so much about chalk paint, I even tried to make my own.  But after finally seeing the paint in action at R. Lucas Scott Co.’s store in Holland, MI, I knew I had to try it out for myself.  By the way, if you’re ever in the area, you MUST check out R. Lucas Scott Co.’s store.  I met the owner, Randy, while I was there and he is such an inspiration.  He is super talented and his painted furniture is absolutely amazing!  That day I left more inspired that I thought was possible.  It was such a great feeling!

Ok, on to the paint.  Now, first I want you to know that I haven’t had much experience painting with latex paint (other than walls, trim, etc.), so I can’t really compare chalk paint to latex paint.  All I can say is so far I’m loving chalk paint.  It is easy to use - it’s consistency is similar to latex.  It dries SO FAST!  Like, within 15 minutes to an hour!  It is virtually odorless, which means I can paint a piece while I’m in my office and my child is in the next room.  No odor.  Windows closed.  It’s amazing!  (I’m sure Annie Sloan would recommend good ventilation, just FYI.)  Oh, and the best part?  No sanding or priming!  Yes, I did mention earlier that I was sanding, but that’s on pieces that have holes, nicks, etc. that need to be filled with wood filler and then sanded down.  On a piece that has no real issues, I just wipe it down with a damp cloth, let it dry for a minute, and then start painting!  I love that there is very little prep work with this paint!

Ready for the before and after?  This is a picture frame I found at a garage sale for $.50!  It doesn’t have glass or Plexiglas to protect the picture, but for $.50 I didn’t really care!  And the picture they had in it is priceless!  ;)

The frame was actually in pretty good shape aside from being an ugly color, in my opinion.  It had great detail, which is all I really cared about!  All I did was wipe it down with a damp cloth and then I got started painting.  I first painted it with two coats of Arles which is a gold yellow color.  (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of this step.  I’ve gotta get better at taking more pictures!)  I wanted to do some sort of distressing treatment on it, so I painted a coat of Old White over the entire frame.  I waited for the paint to dry, maybe a half hour, and then started distressing.  Per Annie’s instructions in her book Quick and Easy Paint Transformations, I got my wax brush damp and then dipped it in a little wax and brushed it onto the frame.  I had to push the brush into the wood a little when I was waxing to help take off some of the Old White and show the yellow Arles color underneath.  Using this method of distressing, the first coat of paint shows through instead of the wood.

I love how the frame turned out!  I’m a perfectionist, so distressing is difficult for me because I want everything to be even.  But I’m learning to just let go and not work too hard at making things look perfect.  Here are some close up shots of the distressing.

Here is the final product on my daughter’s bookshelf.

And here it is with a cute little pinwheel print from The Handmade Home.  I love this print.  It’s so cute and goes perfectly in her room!  And, guess what?  The Handmade Home has a TON of cute, free printables, so be sure to check them out!

Well, that’s all from me.  Like I said, I’m working on some other painting projects, so I’ll be back with more before and afters soon.

Take care!




*Update:  Here are a few links to some great information on chalk paint - said way better than I ever could!  ;)

http://missmustardseed.com/2011/03/mystery-paint-revealed/
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/06/chalk-paint-faqs.html
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/11/chalk-paint-cost-ideas.html