Making Some Holiday Decor

Here's what happened to the wreath I bought a few weeks back...

Chalkboards are so versatile. There's a lot of great tutorials out there on how to make a chalkboard. My tutorial isn't great, but I just want to show you how easy it is!

Here's the easiest way to make your own chalkboard. Use an old frame from a thrift store or garage sale...

Have a thin MDF (medium density fiberboard, a type of plywood) board cut to fit the back of your frame. Paint the MDF board with chalky-type paint in whatever color you like.

Note: Lowe's, Home Depot, and hardware stores will usually make free cuts for you when you're buying boards from their store.

The easiest way to hold the board inside the frame is to tap little wire nails into the frame like these. There, you're done!

Memorize this phrase: The answer to everything is canning jars!

Walmart sells a box of white reusable caps for around $3

My favorite way to use chalkboards is as a background for pictures, plaques and things. In this case, I wanted to use this ceramic pig on the wall as a wreath holder.

I used my handy little 12-year-old screwdriver to attach the pig to the MDF with screws.

I'll paint those screws white next time I have white paint out. Now, I hear muttering...It Will Just Take A Moment! 

But friends, let me tell you if I let that side track me, it will be a week before this gets done. For now, the screws will be hidden behind the wreath anyway!

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Tale Of A Before And After Fail

Here's an old 'before and after' fail of mine that you can use to remind yourself that when you think something is pretty, don't try to improve it.

I had these colorful lampshades. I loved these colorful lampshades. Because I'm afraid to go out on a limb and make some color choices, everything else in our house is monotone in shades of brown and beige. 

The pretty lampshades were one of the few colorful things that tied some of the monotone furniture pieces together and perked up the place...So what did I do? 

I lost my mind one night in Fall 2013 and started painting the lampshades white. Because, you know, like plain white lampshades are sooooo hard to find!

I thought about just leaving them 'white high-lighted' halfway through. I think it was late and I was already regretting my adventure.

The next morning when I got a glimpse of my masterpieces, I realized I had no choice but to see the act of sabotage all the way through. 

So, I got out the chalk paint again and continued on my sad journey towards plain white lampshades, which I could have bought cheaply anywhere lampshades are sold.

Lately, I've been wondering if I could just wash off the white chalk paint? I might give it a try. If it doesn't work, I might paint them black...or maybe a kicky blue color. What do you think? Anything but gray. 

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Friday Finds

Here's a few garage sale finds that I plan to work on this week. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure, right? Wild Bill says one woman's treasure is another man's trash. Bah, humbug!

First, two little wooden framed pictures for 50 cents each. I bought these for a project I want to do for the Christmas tree. I was going to throw out the pictures, but on closer examination they appear to be hand-painted.

There's an article in a recent magazine about hot trends in collecting. One of the things they said was hot right now is miniature paintings. These frames are a little junky, so I'll still take them apart and chalk-paint the frames, but I'll hang on to the little paintings (oh, I so need more crap stored just in case!)

Next up, this $2 funky wooden framed mirror. Instead of seeing dead people like the kid in The 6th Sense, I see chalkboards everywhere! The mirror is hazy and nicked up, even after cleaning, so I'll paint right over it and make a chalkboard of course...

Here's another frame. I think it was $1. The raised pattern will really show up when it's waxed with dark wax. I plan to use it to make a Christmas sign. It just needs a 1/8 or 1/4 inch backing board cut to fit. 

It's real cold here today and supposed to get colder this weekend, so I'll be working inside -- "Baby It's Cold Outside" -- Yeah, that would work for my Christmas sign.

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Painting Aids From The Garden And More

The weather in Texas has finally cooled down enough to make it possible to paint in the garage again. Just in time for me, since I've been storing up painting projects most of the Summer.

 I stacked two chairs together and started painting with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Country Grey. 

Yes, it does look like white doesn't it? It's actually a greenish-yellow-beige as far as I can tell. Here's a closer look at Country Grey on a frame I'm working over  on. Squince up your eyes so you don't see my bowl of onions, OK?

But, getting back to my story here...When my back started hurting from all the bending, I commandeered the rolling garden seat. We bought this mobile seat at Sam's Club, for around $69, early last Spring. 

 We haven't used it much for gardening, but it sure has come in handy for working on projects around the house. The seat swivels around and it's low to the ground, which allows for easy access to low areas.

 While we're on the subject, another handy low-cost item that I've found really helpful with painting projects is this flat moving dolly. We bought it a few years ago at Lowes for $12 and found it so handy, we immediately bought a second one.

It's great for moving a stack of boxes or you can use two of them to move couches, chairs and all sorts of furniture. I use them when I paint large pieces of furniture. Here is a cabinet I'm painting sitting on the flat dolly.

By placing the furniture on top of the flat dolly, I can paint the piece all the way to the bottom since the dolly holds it off the ground by a few inches and allows me to turn the piece all around. 

I'm not going to paint the cabinet Country Grey. I was just checking out how the paint adhered to the press board finish. I'll be back with these pieces when I get them done.

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Something To Talk About

Aged Basket Finally Completed

A while back I painted a laundry basket

with a mix of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and

Vintage Market And Design paint.

My next step was to age it down further

with some clear and dark wax.

I love the color of the baguette tin basket I

bought at Three French Hens in Wildwood MO.

I tried to match that aged color.

Here they are together...

 I used a mix of Annie Sloan's dark wax

with Miss Mustard Seed's clear wax...

 Why? 

No reason. Just the first ones I grabbed when

I reached into my bin of waxes.

 Here's a close-up of the basket with just paint...

and with dark wax...

 The wax made it darker and "browned up" the

gray of the basket.

 I like it against red for Summer...

and with the Fall colors, which are my favorite.

The throws are new from Pottery Barn.

I like the look of them, but don't think they

will hold up very well if actually used.

 I don't think I'm done with the basket.

I'm thinking of adding some stenciled numbers

to the front that I've seen some others do.

 

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All opinions expressed are my own.

Here's a link to Three French Hen's store.

 http://threefrenchhensstl.com/

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