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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