Custom Built-In ChalkBoard!

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever else you celebrate! :) We enjoyed our First Christmas as a married couple and decorated our First Tree!

Moose was waiting for Santa every night! Couldn't wait for some more Tennis Balls and Squeaker Toys!

The Sunday before Christmas I was itching to get back to some of my crafts and DIY projects so I asked my Husband to stop at Home Depot on his way home from his Parents house to get some supplies to finally convert this annoyingly un-useful custom built-in cork board to a FUN and useful Chalkboard!  It had a lot of potential because of the amazing large frame that surrounded the area, but the cork board just didn't make any sense to us...

Here is our before Picture after pulling off the cork that was coming loose:

Supplies that are needed:

Painters Tape

Magnetic Primer (Not necessarily needed, but useful to clear the most cute clutter I've ever seen from my fridge that is taking over because I refuse to take down the adorable baby pictures and announcements my family and best friends send me!)

Chalkboard Paint

Foam Roller and plastic paint tray (they are not pictured below because we ended up switching half way through when we noticed that the paint brushes, below, were a pain in the butt to make the paint even!)

Chalk

We used Spackle to fill in the small holes where the screws are that hold this custom built frame on the wall! (Might not be needed if you are using a regular frame or wall in your house)

Use Painters Tape to line the area where you want to paint.  You could use this to make a square on your bare wall and get a backless frame to hang over the area!  We primed the wall with a magnetic primer (3 coats, with 1 hour drying time in between the coats).

Magnets really work! Though the magnetic strength is lower than the refrigerator...

The next day we started our 3 coats of Chalkboard paint with 24 hours drying time in between each coat!

After it is completely dry, you must prime the chalk board with the side of a piece of chalk.   Take the side of a piece of chalk and rub it on the entire board.  This will make the board able to erase without leaving marks.  If you clean the board with water repeat the chalk priming method to ensure it erases evenly again!

I want to make a cute calendar up top and use the bottom for a message board, but that will have to wait until after hosting our first Party for the New Year!  Hope everyone has a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

DIY Glitter Ornaments

I have noticed that having your own home makes decorating for the holidays a lot more enjoyable, but decorations can be expensive!  Sunday we woke up with the plan of completing the final holiday home decoration, getting a Christmas Tree.  Growing up in my house, as in many homes I assume, we put the tree up and spent time decorating it together.  Well if anyone knows my Husband, you know that if the Redskins are on, no matter how bad they are, he is still watching every second of that game.  I decided that we would put the tree off until next weekend because I in fact was not equipped with enough decorations for this tree anyways.

Which leads me to my latest DIY craft, Glitter Ornaments!

I was inspired by my latest trip to Crate&Barrell where they have huge stations set up with hundreds of ornaments to choose from!  This set of 3 adorable ornaments were going for $8.95.  I decided to check out a few other blogs and found how to make my very own, super glittery ornaments at home for a lot less than $8.95!

Crate & Barrell
Set of 3 Flurry Ball Green Ornaments



I went to Michaels Craft Store (my guilty pleasure), and bought an 8 pack of clear ornaments and some Martha Stewart FINE Glitter.  I read that I needed some floor cleaner and that the Pledge Floor Care Finish with the Blue Cap was the best one to use.  Other than that all you need is a funnel (or a cut envelope to make your own) and q-tips.  The supplies were probably $20 total, but once you have the glitter and floor cleaner you will make an 8 pack of ornaments for about $4.00!!

Take the top off the ornament, squirt some floor cleaner in the ornament, and swirl it around gently as to not create bubbles on the sides until the inside is coated.

Pour the rest back in the bottle and use the q-tip to get rid of any bubbles you may have created. 

Use the funnel to pour glitter in the ornaments.  Use a lot, you will pour the left over back in the bottle anyways.  Shake it around gently and coat the inside completely. 

Dump the remainder back in the bottle by tapping it gently. 

Place the top back on and you have gorgeous homemade glittery ornaments for super cheap! I will be headed back to Michaels today to pick up more boxes of the clear ornaments to fill our tree next weekend!

After the game Adam and I spent the afternoon building our first fire in our new fireplace!  Which of course called for the opening of another bottle of wine given to us at my Bridal Shower!  Thanks Ali and Brandon!

 Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!