Giant Chalkboard

Once again I had a great idea and put my sweet brother to use in creating it. This time, I wanted a giant chalkboard to use as a calendar/menu board and always have a cute monthly themed drawing at the top. Mission accomplished!

 

I've lived in my house for 5 months now and daily I have wondered if it would be strange to decorate the small space between the pantry door and the garage door. It isn't a space many people would see, but one day I decided a giant chalkboard would be awesome. 

The board doesn't look as big as it is in real life. It measures 36 inches tall and 30 inches wide with about 4 inches left on each side of the wall between the doors. The process was easy. I say easy, but I only primed and painted the board. 

My brother and I decided on a 4x4 piece of ply wood which was $18. He wanted a thicker piece of board, but I have a fear the wall will crumble if something is too heavy. (We always use anchors for the heavy stuff so I know it's probably ok). I also bought two pieces of 8 foot trim similar to the trim in my house for $6 each. We broke part of one trying to put it together, but there is still probably 3 feet left over. I also bought wood glue and new chalkboard paint ($10) because my other paint was over 5 years old. 

With no formal training, just a good eye for details and being a visual person, my brother is quite the handyman. He measured the ply wood and cut out the size board I wanted. Of course I don't have a saw horse, so we improvised with some cinder blocks and my foot to balance out the board while he used the saw.

 While I was busy priming and painting the chalkboard paint onto the board, my brother was measuring the trim to fit around the edges. He made each edge on a diagonal line so they would fit together nicely. He is quite meticulous, since I didn't have a protractor to help create the perfect diagonal line, he used a piece of paper. He folded the paper into a square and again into a 45 degree angle. While I am resourceful, I lack the patience for extreme detail. At least someone in the family likes to make it perfect. 

 

Thankfully the trim fit the board almost perfectly. There are a couple tiny gaps which I'll use wood filler to fill in those spaces and repaint the trim to make it a brighter white. The edge of the board also need to be painted white as well. We used wood glue to glue on the trim but also 3 nails per side to help secure it. 

All together we probably spent about 5 hours on the project including the time to shop for the materials and wait for the paint to dry. (Note the lack of patience to wait 24 hours before using the chalkboard). It's exactly how I pictured it, way cheaper then Pottery Barn, bigger then I could find at a store and puts our family's craftiness to work!

 

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Extended Weekends are the Best

I was quite fortunate to have last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off. I think I have more than earned it considering how my class is still working on routines and procedures at Thanksgiving break. It's one of those years.

Wednesday was spent working on little projects here and there, getting Christmas stuff out of the attic and even my brother coming over to take the leaves out of my gutters! He invited me up there, but I most certainly am not a fan of getting on the roof. He was worried it was a lot more steep then he was used to, but had no hesitation to checking his phone.

Thanksgiving Thursday was small and casual, which I love about Thanksgiving. I did get hit in the face with a throwed roll, Lambert's style. I was warned, but it's not my fault I don't have great catching skillz.

Black Friday shopping started at the usual hot spot Target at 10pm. The crazies had already came and conquered, normally we are one of the crazies waiting in line, but when it opens so early, there is no point. Fashionably late is how it happened this year. My priorities were set from the beginning I was along for the ride, I would tackle the Starbucks line, while a friend who has children had present priorities. I waited almost 40 minutes for a Starbucks, but it was worth it. The line to pay at Target was far worse. Imagine the farthest corner of the store from the cash registers and then imagine snaking in and out of every.single. food aisle followed by every.single bath/beauty/pet/cleaning aisles before getting to pay. While some are turned off by this, I find Target's tactics to be well-planned and quite organized. It also helped because I needed dish soap, mascara, a dish cleaning wand for a Pinterest inspired project and I managed to get all of this while waiting in line. Oh, did I mention we waited 1 hour and 11 minutes to pay? It was still worth every minute. Maybe the two cups of coffee helped keep me calm?

 

It didn't end at Target either, about 1:30 in the morning we made our way over to Toy-r-Us, which had an empty parking lot. It's all about strategy, you must wait for those far crazier than Target guests to leave Toys-r-Us. These are the men and women who tend to get hostile. It was so empty, we had time to walk around and casually look around. I found the cutest Peanut's stuff. You think this is a joke, but we did not even wait in line while we were here. After Toys-r-Us, we went to the mall, tried on sunglasses, found some steals at New York and Co and then ate Chic-fil-a at 2:10am. Forget all of my theories on eating after 8, but this was one meal I inhaled and thoroughly enjoyed. I even did a little Black Friday shopping from Instagram while I was out. Every time Laura posts a new necklace on her shop, I'm in love! I bought the arrow necklace. If you aren't following her on Instagram, you should- Bits of Splendor.

I feel like I look a little like Eric Church with the mirrored aviators.

After arriving home at 4am I realized I had one too many cups of coffee. I could not sleep at all. I was tired, I knew I was tired and my brain was running marathons. {plural}

Somehow Friday afternoon I found the strength to go with a friend to watch a college basketball game. We are all alumni of Drury, so it was fun to watch and her husband is an assistant coach. They scored over 79 points so Andy's sundaes were only $1!

And if I didn't exert enough energy in such a short period of time, I also did a two hour Thanksgiving recovery Zumba class on Saturday.

Needless to say, the rest of the weekend was trying to recover. Best Thanksgiving weekend in years. ...But how many days until Christmas break??


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Liebster Award

 I've been nominated for a Liebster Award! This isn't my first or second time to be nominated, but it is the first time I have actually finished the post. I know, I'm horrible! But I am grateful that my little blog has been thought of on more than one occasion.

The Liebster Award is awarded by bloggers, for bloggers. It spotlights new or up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. It's a great way to find new and noteworthy blogs.

The Rules:

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
5. No tag backs.

11 random facts about me:

1. I can burn on recess duty.
2. I want to make sure almost everything in my house that you might like is something you cannot go out and buy at a store.
3. If I didn't teach, I wanted to be an professional ice skater. (I cannot do tricks on ice, don't worry)
4. I once painted red nail polish down the side of my dad's red truck after I scraped it down a mailbox thinking he wouldn't notice.
5. I'm severely allergic to shellfish. One hour, max.
6. I got the worst sunburn on my life in Egypt. When they say the sun is different, they mean closer, therefore ruining the front side of my body with sun damage. *See fact #1*
7. I could live my entire life on mini corndogs, mac and cheese and apple juice. Fortunately, I have self control.
8. I tend to believe I can make anything crafty I can find...I just don't always finish the project.
9. I once cooked a full chicken in 8 lbs. of salt after seeing it happen on Jay Leno.
10. I lost one of my front baby teeth to a tennis ball and broke the bone between my top lip and nose when I was 5. Tennis ball 1. Me 0.

Questions from Sara:


1. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
Mashed potatoes with gravy

2. Best gift you ever received?



Probably last Christmas when my mom surprised with me several sentimental gifts that went along with things I had posted on Pinterest not thinking anyone noticed. 

3. Favorite scent?

Love Story from Scentsy

4. If you had to change jobs tomorrow, what would you decide to do?

Own a shop of pieces I found and repurposed and helped people decorate.

5. What's your porn star name? (Middle name + street you grew up on)
Marie Gardenia
 
6. If you had to give up your cell phone or the internet, which one would you choose?
Internet because I have an iPhone

7. Go to the mall or online shop?
I've started a bad habit of online shopping.

8. Favorite song to sing karoke?

Oh no, no amount of liquid courage will get me to karoke.

9. Why do you like blogging?
It's a fun way to remember meaningful things that you would otherwise forget!

10. Are you scared of anything?

Snakes, spiders, shark attacks

11. One blog you visit everyday?
Probably Young House Love or Katie Bower






Questions for Nominees:

1. The one song you always sing along and dance?
2. Best holiday memory?
3. Favorite memory from elementary?
4. If you had to change jobs tomorrow, what would you decide to do?
5. The one store you could not give up shopping?
6. Favorite reality show?
7. Your go-to recipe for get togethers?
8. Visit Europe or the Caribbean?
9. Why do you like blogging?
10.  How do you like your coffee?
11. One blog you visit everyday?


My nominees:

Ashley - Sow Much in Love

Kara  -The Snugly Duckling

Nancy - The Doubrava Diaries

Jenny - French Press Mornings

T - Fabulous Revelations of an Unconventional Chick

Alyssa - Beyond the Blue

Lauren- Gum Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Brooke- Snowdens on Tour



 

I Had a Dream...

I went under contract on my house the day after the kitchen cabinets were installed. I knew at the moment it was my house. I could picture where everything would be and exactly how I would be decorating it.

One wall in particular I wanted a dresser or buffet to redo that would be a coffee bar/wine rack.

 

The hard part has been waiting. Waiting to find just the right piece, not to big, not too new, not too expensive and after an antiquing trip a few weekends ago, I found just the right piece.  

I originally found another large piece that would still be amazing to have and redo, but it wouldn't fit into my car. I'm all sorts of stubborn when I find the piece I want and become determined I need it right now. Danavee told me to measure my car and was certain it wouldn't fit annnnnd looking back it was probably 8 inches too big to fit.  

Then I found this beauty completely covered with dishes and a shelf. After removing some of those things, I found out it was also covered in grease. 

After hours of sanding, lots of paint stripping, removing three layers of paint and another of orange varnish, the buffet began to look a lot better.

I knew I wanted the top to be stained and show the wood color. I wanted the bottom to be a bright blue or green. I choose a satin Valspar Mineral Blue because my kitchen curtains are a Kelly Green and white stripe. The colors compliment each other nicely. 

I couldn't have pictured it better in my mind. Here is the finished project.

 

 

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Giveaway!

I'm sure that got your attention!

My bloggin' (and real life friend) Danavee is hosting a giveaway. Not just any giveaway, but one to The Pleated Poppy, who might I add is one talented lady. If you haven't visited her shop or stalked her Wednesday posts of "What I Wore Wednesday," then it's time you head on over.

In particular, I'm a huge fan of

It All Started in Public Speaking 101

A little over eight years ago during our very first college class, there were four or five of us from high school in the same Public Speaking course. Well, who am I kidding, we all had the exact same schedule for the first semester, but my friend Jennafer invited three boys sitting on the other side of the room to come sit by us.

My first reaction was to slowly duck and look at her like she was nuts. I couldn't believe she had the guts to do this and let alone still talk to them. Embarrassing.

However, little did anyone know that the friendship that would begin that day would lead to a wedding eight years later. I might have gone on a date with the future groom first, but these two are perfect for each other. And their wedding was beautiful. Our friend Brooke, who was also in the same Public Speaking class was the photographer.

It looks like I was kicked in the head, but thankfully I wasn't. I was preparing for the worst. 

I love this shot because we are walking down Main Street in the town we grew up in. City Hall is on the left of us where Jennafer's mom works, our dance studio was behind us to the right and we've walked this street year after year for Pumpkin Daze and the Christmas Parade.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Pinterest Helped Me Decorate

Where did we learn to decorate before Pinterest?

It's so simple now to have a tiny spark of an idea, type it in to search and voila, you have so many different ways to style your thoughts.

Here is one example using an old rake I found for $4 at an antique store. I took it off the stick and hung it on the wall. It's perfect for necklaces.

I also added two magnet strips to the inside of my bathroom cupboard for bobby pins. It's helpful to keep them there, but I need to glue them to the door. It doesn't stay well.

 

The next photo isn't a Pinterest idea, but it's another little area of my master bathroom I have decorated. The flowers were the bouquet I carried in a wedding last October

Now I'm going wild and crazy adding little bits here and there. The house is coming together nicely.