Chalkboard Paint + Mugs

My chalkboard paint addiction is reaching new heights.

I have taken to spray painting mugs. Plastic from the Michael’s clearance bin (sorry cute birds – gotta paint over ya), thriftstore and yardsale finds (I love finding nice shaped mugs) and even mugs from my own cabinets (sorry, freebie mug from work).

I bought a bunch of chalk markers off ebay and gifted mugs n markers at the holidays. The chalk markers stay on through washings. Speaking of, I hand wash these. I just don’t want the spray paint to chip or flake and wreck my dishwasher. Not saying that will happen but rinsing out a mug is no biggie for the peace of mind that my dishwasher is safe from paint chips.

I do not prime or sand – yeah, that’s how I roll. I just use my spray paint trigger and mist several coats over the mugs. The bottoms do get a little chippy or scuffed with use (I’ve been using the same mug  since October). I prep the surface of the mug by rubbing a piece of chalk over it and wiping it off.

oh- and in case you are wondering that orange mug- I used an Identipen and it has not faded or anything- even in the dishwasher. I wish I were a better doodler.

Teacher craft in process

I saw this cute birthday countdown calender (on Pinterest I think) but the sign holder- although very cute- is like 8 bucks at office depot.

Kinda blowing my cheapie budget considering I was thinking of making at least 6 of these, maybe more like a dozen.

But then I looked up and saw this

Remember I had made it awhile back? So I had hubby drill the holes and I made this:

(sorry for the blurry photo – too lazy busy to take another one). I used the binder rings and lots of stickers and scrapbooking leftovers. The numbers are these big black old stickers I have had fovever. I used the cropadile to punch the holes and computer printed a bunch of holidays so the teachers can just change out the holiday bit. The hard part (because math and logic is hard for me) was figuring out what number to go on the back so that once the cards are flipped to the back, they can be turned around on the rings as needed. (Boy, that makes no sense- I mean I wanted to use both sides of the cards as effectively as possible)

Then I got the bright idea that since this would be in a class there would be lots of grubby paws on it so I laminated each number card. But that created some issues. Since I had not originally calculated the laminated edging into the size, each card was too long now and I had to trim each card before laminating and then trim and round the corners with scissors because no one has made a frigging corner rounder that work on lamination (I wish to heck I could patent that idea and make a fortune!). And rounding the corners always makes me grumpy because they never look identical. ugh (ok, just me, right?) I also used the cropadile once again to re-punch the holes.

And it seems that in a fit of purging I let go all my clear acrylic frames and none of the thriftstores have ANY all of a sudden. I got one from Dollar General but it is kinda flimsy. Will try it and let ya know how it goes.

My plan is to pound these out over thanksgiving weekend and gift them to the teachers on the 12th day before the end of school before winter break when I start my 12 days of gifting. (other gifts I have set aside: bacon chocolate bars, chalkboard spraypainted mugs, chalk pens, chalkboard thought bubbles- still have to make those- fleece blankets with names on them, our annual xmas music cd and more).

Make Your Own Shrinky Dinks

Does everyone know that #6 recyclable plastic (usually clear take out food containers) is shrink plastic?

It is true!

So, here is what I do. I save it up and trim it down (using my scrapbooking trimmer, scissors, craft punches, etc). I round the corners using a corner punch and punch holes using a hole punch.

Then let the kids write or trace a drawing on it. They shrink up thicker and heavier than the storebought film.

I also like to make teeny tiny ones & have the kids write their names and the year on them. I use them to tag certain xmas ornaments so we know whose are who’s. Plus seeing their penmanship is always cute! I use a jump ring to attach the nametag and it is small enough that it is unobtrusive.

And because I am often lame about taking photos as I craft here are some other photos to show the shrunken size.

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crafting with a 4 yr old

With Christmas less than 100 days away crafting is in full swing.

I got some little flat wooden hearts at Michael’s (thank you, 40% off coupon) and sprayed them with chalkboard paint (define obsession- I am not obsessed *twitch twitch*). Some I punched with my handy dandy cropodile (I was skerred but it punch right through like buttah!) and will use those as gift tags and some I am glueing to clothespins and will pin a gift’s ribbons (that sounds confusing – I just wanted tag options)

Then I had a craft fail (I stuck some cork tiles on some more kitchen cabinet doors and for some reason they made the cabinet doors not close all the way- ugh- so I ripped them off) but I made lemonade outta lemons. I traced the little chalkboard hearts and cut them out with scissors, punched cropadile holes in them and was going to leave it at that but . . . we had the glitter out and, ya know, I have glitter in my veins! They kinda look like sugar cookie ornaments now.

So, Miss Crafty 4 year old painted on the glue and I poured on the glitter (sorry, she is not to be trusted with a paper plate full of glitter on her own!) I used modge podge instead of elmers just because when I cleaned my craft closet recently I discovered a plethora (a plethora I say!!) of bottles of modge podge.

But then we had this leftover glue and glitter and the pile of clothespins was RIGHT THERE. Before I knew what happened we had glittered tiny, small and regular sized clothespins. Not sure what to do with them other than glue magnets to the back and gift them out at the holidays.

Making Cow Shirts!

If you know me- you know how much I adore Chick Fil A. My fave store- they know me by name. (is that a bad thing??) They know I want a sweet tea with no ice and an ice water (I mix my own – that’s how I roll).

And Friday was Dress Like A Cow Day. The littlest one needed a shirt so we made it using the spin art machine. Squeezing the paint bottles is good fine motor skillin’ for her and just plain fun. We use the paintings like stamps to make spots on a shirt. We have done this loads of times before- word of warning: If the kids are making one for you try not to let them stamp two RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CHEST. Also, don’t do red or mostly red- looks bloody. We have done spider web prints for halloween party and we have also used the artwork as gift tags, fronts for thank you notes and cards. We love our spin art machines (I may have recently downsized from 4 machines to 2- what?? I cannot pass them up at yardsales!)

The CFA dress like a cow experience was great! The 8 yr old said he had to wear those shoes because they look like hooves (how smart!) and the littlest one is wearing shoes (clear glitter jellies) but looks barefoot in the photo. She stole my hat. And does anyone get the joke I made with my mask? No one but the Husband seemed to get it. The boys wanted tie on masks. I wanted mine on a stick so the littlest one did, too.

Which brings me to a strange new phenomenon! The littlest one freaked out when she saw the CFA cow person in a costume. I mean really, really scared- hiding under the table, so scared she was on the verge of crying - Wow. That was a new thing. I sent her to the car with T while I got the food and when I got to the car she hopefully asked “Did you kill it?!?” She said the cow wanted to get her. And then all she could talk about was the “cow with the big head” and how even though it was a person in a costume it wanted to get her. *sigh* But it was still a great time.

Making some Glue Dots

These are great! They are like the little glue booger that hold samples on in the mail. They work for scrapbooking- holding on a crushed penny or baby hospital id bracelet. But also for regular crafting. I use them to tack 8x10 photos on the wall’s of my 4 yr old’s bedroom. It is great that they stay repositionable (because she like to move them around) and do not harm the wall.

I save sticker sheets and the paper backing from my mini xyron and mailing labels.

The Aleene’s Tack It Over & Over I get at Michael’s (using my 40% off coupon of course!).

I lay out all the paper, making sure I have a matching cover piece for each piece, and just start squeezing the dots- some are big, some are small, some are lines or dashes. Once they turn clear you can cover with the matching cover piece.

I have tried covering when wet - didn’t work. I store mine in a couple of snack or sandwich size baggies- keep some in my scrapbooking tote and some in the craft cabinet. They are pretty handy.

Utilitarian Storage

Pill bottle with label removed + stickers (leftovers from cd labeling at xmas time) = personalized storage capsules for the “tooth fairy” to keep each of the kiddos’ teeth separate. I thought about making them all pretty with scrapbooking paper and stickers etc. Might still do that at some point but time was of the essence.

I made 1 storage capsule for each kid and labeled them and will happily give them their teeth at some point. Not sure why or what they will do with them but it seems a waste of genetic material to just throw them away, right?

I did once hear about a man who carved them into beads – teeth are just like ivory, right?? hmmm – wonder if I could find a craftsperson on etsy who does that *off to check*.

Awesome Party decoration!

My mother in law’s big birthday bash.

I am huge into photos, scrapbooking, preserving the past etc.

So, how did I contribute to the decorating?

I printed a ton of photos and taped them to a wall. Printed on my home printer on photo paper in various sizes, I tried to pick photos of her through the years with people I knew would be there (or who had passed on- like her mother- which made her tear up). I tried to keep it sorta like a timeline and just used folded over scotch tape. I tried to keep the tape off the walls because I didn’t wanna mess up the awesome paint finish at my in brother & sister in law’s place. And I passed the pictures along to whomever wanted them at the end of the evening.

It was a huge hit! (*whisper* and super easy!)

Toilet paper Roll = pencil holder

Cannot recall where I first saw it but we have been making these things for years now. Toilet paper tube + 2-3 binder clips (depending on size of clips). Clip one med or lrg or 2 small at one end of the tube to hold it shut. Clip another on one side and fold one silver arm up to create the hanger. Fits easily over a push pin. We have these on each corkboard and several by the kids’ desk. Yes, you can write on the tube to jazz it up. We also sometime staple the end shut and just use the binder clip for hanging.

My pal Mari is a genius!!

I have a cricut – but it gets very little use. I did get SCAL (Mr Wonderful got it for me as a holiday gift!) and sold off almost all my cartridges. I have a friend named Mari and she is a scrapper extraordinaire! And she has a scraproom and a big cricut.

She’s the one without the hat.

Our pages are at the opposite ends of the spectrum- hers are gorgeous and lavish and she will do 2 at a 12 hr crop. Me- I pound out about 40 and they are simple.

Well, she saw this cool project to make a carrying case for your cartridges. And she made it! Here are her photos. It is so cool! It uses snap on containers and plastic canvas. She got the totes at Joann’s using a coupon – how thrifty! – and it was a cinch to make. And it is expandable. She wrote on each cartridge to be even more efficient.

how cool!

Case Closed

Easy craft and the 13yrold whipped out a handfull in no time flat.

I have some stiff felt on hand. Folded it in half and roughly cut the shape, sharpie dots on the inside, Big Bite to punch the holes,  use large giant needle and yarn to stitch on the outside. Easy cheesey. Had to play with the size but also good for eyeglass case, cell phone case etc – gift for the grandparents!!

Semi FAIL!

Sooo, I got this shrinky dink printer plastic. And the thought I had was keychains or luggage tags. I already had some cell phone lanyards on hand (and now no ones phone has the little spot to attach them to anymore so I am looking for alternate uses for them! I got mine cheapy cheap off ebay).

I resized and printed the photos- took a little trail and error. You gotta use photoshop or something and reeeeeeally lighten them up.

 

Then I trimmed (using my scrapbook trimmer) and punched holes (used my cropadile) And shrank them in the toaster oven.

 

But the holes closed up too much so I gave them another punch with the cropadile.

I tried threading them on keyrings and broke a couple so I switched to small binder rings and just stacked them on, then clipped it to the cell phone lanyard and added these little keychain clippie thingies.

  

I had read about coating them and tried it- I used a clear spray paint I had on had. See the two photos below – at an angle you can really see the clear coat. It seemed like an unnecessary step with extra dry time.

 

I gave them away and they were well received. I clipped mine to my keys. Aaaaand then they started breaking. CRAFT FAIL! When I checked back in with the gift recipients they reported the same thing and no one was using them for anything now. Argh! 

I still think this has potential. Maybe earrings or a pendant – something with less handling that keychains. Also I am not talented enough but I do think a black pen carefully ran around the edges would class it up a but. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I also had wanted the kidlets to write their names on the back but somehow forgot about that in the frenzy of the crafting. I make super tiny shrinky dinks (using a circle punch and #6 recyclable plastic because it comes out thicker) and have them write their names and date on them and I attach them to xmas ornaments (my hope is years and years from now it will help separate the collection so everyone can take “their” ornaments when they move out on their own).

Easy cheesy homemade gift idea! Post It holder!!

  

This is one of those crafts that is sooooo easy and doesn’t need a lot of directions.

Pick up a few of those clear acrylic angled frames. Cut scrapbook paper to fit.

Stick the post it pads to the outside of the frame (I used glue dots to do so) and stick small photos on the paper. Insert paper (play with photo placement if you are as spatially challenged as I am) and there you have a gift to brighten someone’s work cube!

This one was last father’s day I think.

Spray Painting a Knife Block

  I love wood and I love spray paint. Usually I do not paint wood but . . . I saw this idea and then everyone in the blogosphere was doing it. Always late to the party, I had to try it, too! I had found this pampered chef knife block at a yardsale ($2 I think – I *know*! I was thrilled!!) and thought if it came out ugly I would just find another knife block at the thriftstore or yardsales. They are pretty easy to find.

So, I spray painted it using Oil Rubbed Bronze and it looks good! I’ve been using for a couple of months now and it is fine. No chips or anything. And no, I did not even sand it a smidge – just washed it good and set it in the sun to dry.

I sprayed the bottom (I thought it was the easiest way to paint the bottom edges), then just sprayed and flipped and sprayed some more. I gave it pretty good coverage and no clear coat. Love it!!

  Yes, that is a plate (glued to a candlestick) cakestand.

Yes, those tomatoes are from our garden.   Yes, we have wood laminate countertop and backsplash.

And yes, the ORB painted block looks much better than the old blonde tone wood did.

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And this basil is thanks to Julia and this is the second little bunch to root for me. I tried to plant the first one in a pot outside and it died within days. I am a horrid gardener. Anyone wanna tell me how to grow this outside? There are sooo many roots on these!! And all I do is change out the water ever couple of days.

 

Crafting with candlesticks

  I have been busy making these lately. I saw this craft making the blog rounds and was inspired. Then it became something of a passion and now I would say we are entering addiction territory. The recipe is simple: plate + adhesive + candlestick. Buuuuut the plate can be a small saucer or dish or bowl or platter. The candlestick can be tall or squat or something else (I have used a vase, a drinking glass and more!). Alot of folks on the web are picking up candlesticks at the dollar stores- trust me, get one without wax on it if you get it from the thrift store. It will take you longer to remove the wax than to make one of these! The plates, saucers, bowls, etc I have been mostly picking up at the thriftstores for under a buck each.

  The adhesive is supposed to be E6000 but I happened to have an opened tube of Plumber’s Goop in the shed so I used it and it has worked like a charm. Both are washable (although I hand wash not dishwasher for these) and stable. They do stink so proper ventilation, ok, people?

  You turn the plate (or bowl or saucer etc) upside down and then take the candlestick (or similar) and neatly glob or squeeze the adhesive onto the candlestick and adhere it to the plate. I sorta use my finger widths to judge if it is centered because some of the backstamps are not in the center. I put another plate and a weight on top to help it adhere well and give it a few hours before turning it rightside up and letting it sit for another day or two to cure.

Any clue what the base on this one is?? It is a ceiling fan light fixture!! I found a set of 5 at goodwill. They are gorgeous with cut diamond pattern and etching. And they nicely work on the larger charger sized plates.

  I have them all over- on my dresser to hold earrings etc, one on hubby’s dresser for change, one by the sink to hold bits and bobs, a big one on the island with fruit. The plan is to give them to some teachers at the school for val day (even though a couple have xmas poinsettias on them). I store them upside down on my pantry. I used them at the holidays and the varying heights make a nice display on the buffet.

       But I think I will be making these for awhile. Can you see one holding a cupcake as a birthday gift, or cookies (wrapped in plastic wrap) or in a bathroom with a bar of soap (not with my kiddos around but it would look cute in someone else’s house!). The only downside seems to be that my taste is vintage floral and glass and that might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

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