DIY Reusable Chalkboard Banner

Hello awesome people!

 

As you can see in this post,  I was honored to host a woodland-themed baby shower at my home for my super-cool cousin, K.

 

I used some items that were in my craft closet and made this customizable banner.

 

 

This is quite quick & easy, and the best part: it's reusable.

 

Tutorial Starts Here

The items you'll need:

--8 inch cake circles

--chalkboard paint

--paint brush (sponge type works best)

--twine

--scotch tape

--chalk

 

Step 1: Paint one side of each cake circle with blackboard paint. Make sure to get the edges.

Don't be afraid to put a thick coat; blackboard paint works better in thick layers.

 

 

Step 2: Let paint dry. If needed, put on a second coat to cover thin spots or smooth ridges.

 

Step 3: Pull out about 18 inches of twine, to allow for plenty of room when hanging your banner. Don't start too close to the end of the twine.

By Emilian Robert Vicol (Flickr: Ball-of-Hemp-Twine_31614-480x360) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

  Step 4: Position twine on the back side of one cake circle about 2 inches from the top. Secure with 2-3 pieces of scotch tape.

 

Step 5: Repeat with each cake circle, spacing equally as you go.

 

Step 6: Allow another 18 inches of twine at the end, and cut twine from spool.

 

Step 7: Decorate each cake circle with chalk-- your child's sidewalk chalk will make some pretty letters and pictures.

If you goof up, just erase gently with a damp paper towel and wait until completely dry before trying again.

 

 

 

Hang and smile!

 

Share your chalkboard crafts with me in comments.

Shared with The 36th Avenue.

 



Mirror, Mirror... on which wall?

Check out my newest completed project!

  

 

 

Luckily, my grandmother is a bit of a pack-rat, and her basement is a treasure chest full of great family heirlooms.

This mirror-turned-inspiration-board belonged to my great-great grandmother.

 

Two of the glass sections had been broken years ago, so I created a blackboard section and a cork board section.

I love to use heirloom pieces in my home! What heirlooms have pride-of-place in yours?



Laundry day. And there's nothing better than clothes dried in the sun. --Piglet

I finally did it! I painted a room in my house. Having lived in parsonages for all my married life, I've never been able to do this-- until now! Here are some pics of the makeover I gave my laundry and mud room.

 

I'm a huge believer that your home should reflect YOU, when you have the ability to choose what's in it. Of course, decorating can be pricey, or in my case, often prohibited. But if you have the luxury of deciding on your home's appearance, relish it; and create a space that says who you are. You're lucky!

 

 

This is the mudroom. The door-turned-coat-rack was salvaged from my Grindiddy's parents house. This was their front door. The house was empty for about 15 years before it was burned down. I used to play house there.

The glass doorknobs are original to the doors. The outside knob was purple, and the inside knob clear. I've repurposed them as hooks.

 

This is my little "take your shoes off" nook. The basket (and it's twin on the set of drawers) are from Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, about 30 minutes from where we live.

The pillow belongs to the house; it was here when we moved in, as was the ottoman.

I sewed and painted the ottoman cover.

 

I used chalk board paint to create a little message center above the washer & dryer.

 

We reattached the door plates, too.

Finishing touches :)

Starting, or it's always been words

When I was a little girl, I had Sesame Street sheets. My mom would tuck me in, and "fly" the top sheet over me. This was, of course, for the purpose of straightening the tangled sheet from my tossing and turning the previous night. (Making the bed did not become a priority for me until later.)  But I believed this was simply something mommies & little girls did at bedtime- a sleepy time ritual. The only part of this sheet set that remains is this pillow case:

Notice the alphabet?  I didn't...  At least until last week when getting ready to pack for our upcoming move. I remembered Bert & Ernie, Big Bird, the smell, the feel, everything about those sheets. These sheets have been a vivid memory of my childhood since I realized one is supposed to have childhood memories. How did I just notice the gigantic letters? Where did the letters go?

That started me thinking-- what happens to the things we used to love as children? Most of my Sesame Street sheets are gone. But more than that, the letters were missing from my recollections. The things Rachel loved as a child- drawing trees, writing stories, acting in my own one-woman-shows in the woods behind my house- these things seem to disappear as I entered adulthood. I traded this precious, free-flowing part of the person I am for the strictly organized, college educated, analytical self I've become. I let the grownup me bully my inner child. I let my left brain kick the tail of my right brain, resulting in a self-esteem crisis for poor Righty.

It seems to me that each person is given an organic, natural desire to be creative, and that our society is set up to squash this. We spend so much time training and exercising our left brains, that our right brains become decayed and desperate for exercise. For me that exercise has generally been words. I'm no beautiful, poetic writer--possibly because I haven't allowed myself to attempt to be for so long. I spent years writing papers and reports-- things meant to record and inform-- not to express or inspire.

I'm on an expedition to live a more abundant life, to live authentically.

I'll take those lost letters off my Sesame Street sheets and begin putting them back together to find my words.