Magnetic Chalkboard Wall (DIY)

So, I have been wanting to do a chalkboard wall for while now.  I REALLY want to do one in the playroom, ever since we bought our house I have planned to.  But I want to paint all the walls before I do the chalkboard, but we need to build a wall up there before we paint the walls.  We have a stainless Steel fridge, which means we can't stick magnets to the front of it.  So I figured I would paint the panel on the pantry door with chalkboard paint, so I could have a place for grocery lists.  Unfortunately my pantry door is like my front door and doesn't have a solid panel in the middle (like my cabinet doors do).  However, I do have a short wall right across from the pantry door, that is next to my fridge!!

I went to Lowe's and got some Valspar Chalkboard paint, they have 250 colors to choose from.  I wanted to match my Kitchenaid Mixer and my olive oil holder, kitchen towels, etc.  While I was talking to the guy helping me and asking him questions, he told me they sold a magnetic primer that would make my chalkboard magnetic.  Even better?  It was on clearance!

The next day I taped everything and sanded the wall.  Then I went to use the primer.  It was SO thick and sludgy, super nasty.  I stirred it, I shook it, I even took it out to my drive way and rolled it around super quick.  Nothing seemed to help!  So I took it back to Lowe's and had them mix it for me (which everyone who buys magnetic primer should have done before they use it)

A lot of the reviews I read about the Primer said that even with multiple coats (they recommend 3 light coats) it did not work at all, or barely worked.  I think this is because they didn't get it mixed up enough and all their iron shavings were on the bottom.  Getting mine mixed by Lowe's made all the difference I think.  I did the 3 coats, and not only did a magnet stick, but it could hold up a piece of paper too (which most people said it wouldn't do).

They said it was suppose to be dark grey…but it came out black for me.  You're suppose to wait 4 hours before you do a top coat, so I waited til the next day since I finished this too late at night.  The next day I painted the chalkboard paint over it.  They recommend 2 coats, but after 2 coats you could still kinda see the primer in some parts.  I was really worried that if I added any more coats if would affect the magnetism, but I added one more coat.  It looked great after 3 coats, and the magnetism wasn't affected at all!

Finally I removed the tape, and then I had to 'prime' the chalkboard.  You need to take a piece of chalk and turn it on its side and cover the entire chalkboard with chalk before you use it.

Then Voila!  You have a magnetic Chalkboard in your kitchen (or whatever room you put it in)!

I only used maybe a fourth of the cans of paint too, so I have tons left over!  I absolutely love it!

Do you have a chalkboard wall, or are you thinking of painting one?

Homemade invites!

For my daughter's upcoming Paris themed birthday party I decided to make the invitations myself.  With the help of Hobby Lobby I got some stamps, ink and some pretty cool paper.

I just cut the paper into quarters with fancy scissors and then used the stamps.  I made all of them different, so they each had a unique touch to them.

After talking to some friends, I decided to add a bit of bling to them too.  I wanted to add little bows, but none of my ribbon was small enough…plus I'm not very good at making bows!  I also didn't have any rhinestones, but I did have some raised foam glitter stickers that I was able to use.

I must say, I think they came out pretty good!  Jaidan really liked them, and that's the important thing!

Riley's Valentine's

I know I did these same Valentine's for Jaidan last year, but they are so cute, and I thought they were perfect for Riley's preschool class so we did them again!

You can see my original post about making the crayons here, and you can see my original post on the actual Valentine's here.

I did do a few things a bit different this year.  Instead of cutting the crayons on the cutting board with a knife, I used a hammer and a bag.  Both ways are time consuming and I don't think either one is really any better then the other LOL.  Ok, well maybe I only did 1 thing different!  On to the pictures!

All ready to start!

Ready for the oven

Liquidy crayon goodness!

Heart crayons!

The finished Valentine!  Riley wrote his name on the back.

Did you do any DIY Valentines this year?  I would love to see them/read about them!

My 1st Project!

I recently decided to re-learn how to crochet.  I say re-learn, because back in elementary school my mom taught me how...tho other then a failed attempt at a scarf (which I turned into a cassette tape holder, yes I know I just aged myself LOL), I didn't really do much with it.

My daughter Jaidan also wanted to learn how to crotchet too, so we are learning together.  We have mastered the chain stitch, and single crotchet, and have also learned the importance of counting your stitches (even when not using a pattern!).

For our first projects we are both making scarves.  I am making a green one for Riley, since green is his (and my!) favorite color.  She is making a scarf for herself with some very pretty colors.

I will do another post when we are both done with our projects!  We are both making some good progress on them.  It helps that we are on our 3rd snow day of the week too!

Our 1st chains

Learning Single Crotchet

The start of a scarf

Slowly taking shape

Working on her scarf

Where we were at this morning

Do you have any projects you are working on?  Crotchet, or otherwise?

My Fall Wreath!

After seeing how easy it was to make the Deco Mesh wreath I made for UT, I decided to try my hand at a fall wreath too.  Except, I decided to try to do it using burlap!  What screams fall more then burlap does?

I bought a couple of different things (and collected some pinecones from outside) because I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to put on it, or how I was going to do it.

I basically did it JUST like the Deco Mesh wreath, except I had to use a whole pipe cleaner, not one cut in half, because the burlap was just too thick.  I was a bit worried I wasn't going to have enough of the burlap, because it comes with less on the roll, but I had about 1.5 feet left over when I was done, talk about relieved!  I also wound up using most of the orange accent burlap too!  But I have plenty of the fall leaves burlap ribbon left over.

I painted a burgundy C, it was small and curvy and very pretty, but it just blended way to much with the leaves on the ribbon.  I also painted a bigger C a pretty burnt orange and then put gold polka dots on it, and I really liked how it looked, but it did blend in a little bit.

I posted that one on Facebook and one of my friends recommended a Navy Blue C, since blue and orange are complementary colors (I did not know this, being as I am not very artistic, but she is and told me this LOL).  Luckily I don't permanently attach my letters!  I bought some Navy Blue paint and painted a new C, and attached it today.

So there it is, my finished fall wreath!  I really like the pop of color the blue C adds!  Now I just need to make my halloween wreath!

Deco Mesh Wreath

I made my very own University of Tennessee deco mesh wreath about 2 weeks ago.  It was SO, SO easy (even easier then the tulle one I had originally planned!).  I absolutely love it and can't wait to make more for other seasons/times of the year!

I had been wanting to make one for a while, and had planned making one with a foam wreath form and tulle.  Then my SIL Michelle started talking about making one and I made up my mind and went down to Hobby Lobby to buy the stuff to make it.  As I walked in I saw that fall deco mesh colors were on sale 40% off, and of course Orange is a fall color.

I have seen the deco mesh wreaths before, and had always been interested in learning how to make one, but had absolutely no clue what I was doing LOL.  They had a 21" and 5" across size, figuring I was making a wreath, I grabbed the 5" size (makes sense, right?).  Walked around the store so I could find white (which I also got in the 5" size) and saw the metal wreath forms next to a book that taught you how to make the wreaths with 14 designs included.  No way was I buying the book, but I figured those would be the right forms to use since they were by the book LOL.

I got home and sat down at the computer and fired up YouTube.  Come to find out...most people use the 21" for making wreaths!  But I found a super easy tutorial that used both the 21" and the 5", so I exchanged my Orange 5" for the 21".  I also found out I needed pipe cleaners...which btw, for those un savvy crafty people, like me, pipe cleaners are also referred to as Chenille Stems (so I picked those up when I did the exchange).

I was able to make the entire wreath, on my own, without the tutorial after I had watched it the 1 time.  Here's a link to the Youtube video I watched Deco Mesh Wreath Tutorial.  See how easy that is?  Here are the pictures I took of my wreath!

 Painted my T orange

 Added some white polka dots

 My supplies

 Doing the first ring

 End of 1st ring, starting the 2nd ring

 After the 2nd ring

 After the 3rd ring, which is the accent color

My finished wreath on my door!!!

I can't wait to make more!  Debating if I should do a fall one...or a halloween one next!

Introducing The Knotty Shoppe

Well, ok, The Knotty Shoppe has been around for about a month and a half now, but this is my first time to blog about it. It's another reason I have been MIA the last few weeks too. My best friend Mel and I are selling handmade fleece tie blankets (various sizes, and scarves). You can find our facebook page at www.facebook.com/theknottyshoppe. We also have a store front at Storenvy at www.theknottyshoppe.storenvy.com. We also gladly accept custom orders, you can contact us via our Facebook page, or you can email us at theknottyshoppe@gmail.com. Just for reading about The Knotty Shoppe on my blog, use code Blog10 at check out in our store front and save 10% until Sunday Nov 6th at Mid PST. Also, mention this blog post in an email to us abut a custom order and you will save 10% through Sunday Nov 6th at Mid. Once our Facebook fan page reaches 200 fans we'll be giving away a scarf to one lucky fan, anyoen who likes the page has a chance to win. Make sure to like our page and send your friends and family to our page too!