Project Menu Blackboard

Ok...finally!  I got this finished last night.  I got this from Pinterest, of course, as my creative soul is asleep most of the time.  I used to keep a weekly menu on the refrigerator and Bill loved it!  He liked knowing what he was eating for supper each day..why?  I have no idea but when I quit doing it or, heaven forbid, changed a day, he had a fit. So, when I saw this on Pinterest, I decided right then and there, that it was a project I was going to tackle.

I put the blackboard menu on the inside of my pantry door.  I used Valspar Chalkboard paint that I bought from Lowes.  I gave the inside of the door a good sanding to take off the glossy finish and then painted 2 coats of Kilz , a latex stain blocker and primer/sealer.  I gave each coat 24 hours to dry and then started the chalkboard paint application.  The can said 2 coats but I wanted this to last, really last, so I gave it 5 coats with 24 hour dry time between applications.  Was it over kill?  I don't think so. I wanted to use Chalk Ink and after researching the ink, it stated that it wouldn't work good on chalkboard paint because it would leave marks when it was washed off.  Bill wrote a small message to me on the board while I was gone to mom's and on first cleaning, I noticed it left a ghost image of the message.  I then got out my wonderful Awesome cleaner and cleaned it some more...ghost image gone.  I think it is because of the 5 layers of paint...maybe not, but it worked and I'm happy!   As you can see from the image, I taped off the raised edge and painted inside..gave it a nice, framed appearance when completed.

Then I cut my wording on the Silhouette.  Trust me, I learned LOTS of patience with this process....I chose to use the font At Last Greeting and its pretty delicate.  I wasted 5 inches of vinyl before I got the settings right to cut it out.  I was following the information in the software and it was cutting the vinyl but tearing the letters at the same time.  I then lowered my blade to 1, my speed to 2 and my thickness to 9.  Then my patience really had to kick in...it was a B to separate from the backing.  My font size for the days of the week was only 72, that made for some very tiny pieces.  It took me almost 2 hours to go from cut to placement and I came close to throwing in the towel many, many times.  But, it sure looks nice now, don't you think?  Even through I didn't get my spacing good....I was frustrated with the lettering and didn't adjust for spacing very well.  I should have marked it all off but this will work for now...someday, I can always do it again.  I figure my pieces are so tiny that with weekly cleaning of the board, the vinyl will start to come off and need to be replaced anyway.  I'll adjust the spacing then...lol.

My next project is to have some sheet metal cut to fit the other door...I know they make magnet paint but I want it to hold better then the paint does.  So...I'm going to have a piece cut and then paint it with chalkboard paint too.  That way, I can write on it or hang my grocery list with the magnets. 
I am having a BLAST! 
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Window Box Project

This is the next project Bill and I have tackled.  I've always wanted window boxes on these windows and my retirement has made it possible to do a lot of things I've wanted to do but never had the time for. Usually we were both trying to get housework and yard work done on our weekends and never had time for projects. But, since I've retired, I get all the mundane work done during the week so we can play on the weekends.  So, this past weekend, we got these done.

I bought (3) 1 x 6 x 8 feet cedar boards and (4) pre-made wooden brackets from Lowes.  The boxes measure 35 inches in length.  We cut three boards at 35 inches and used screws to form a open ended box.  Then we measured the open ends and cut the boards to fit each end as we went.  There was probably a more effienent way to do this but since Bill and I are not professional carpenters, we just do it how ever it makes sense to us.  Not that it always works out...LOL...sometimes we wonder how our minds think when we finally wake up and see that what we did was stupid...LOL..
Anyway, this way worked for us this time.  I filled the screw holes but as you will see from the pictures, I did a horrible job of it and got in too big of a hurry to paint.  I should have let the filler dry more, filled some more and sanded but its not something that bothers me enough to redo...LOL

I then gave everything two coats of primer and 2 coats of my house trim paint. The hardest part of the whole project was attaching them to the house.  The brackets come with those metal doohickeys that you add your screw and then 'slide' the bracket over the screws...well, let me tell you, we have an awful time getting the screws lined up and spaced correctly so the bracket 'lines' up!  For safety and added strength, we drilled holes in the front of the brackets and added another screw.  I can just see them falling off the wall..LOL

Then, a trip to the green house and this is the final results....I wanted to add mums but the greenhouse didn't have any small enough so went with Rudbeckia, ornamental cabbage and pepper plants. 

and my other window box on the garage....not made by us but will be replaced next year as I get tired of trying to find the mats to fit this one.

Just a couple cards

My lovely folks celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary last week, my sister celebrated her 62nd birthday and my brother celebrated his 65th birthday...all in one week!  We've always kidded the folks that Vicki was born on their anniversary and Roger was born 4 days later....they never get the joke!  LOL

Anyway, here is the card I made for mom and dad.

   
The paper is some I bought from My Craft Channel...its called Sweet Afternoon by Teresa Collings and believe it or not, the only part that is from the paper stock is the medallion at the top.  The little banners I cut from the cover sheet page.  They were perfect for the banners that I made and I didn't have to cut up all those paper sheets.  The ribbon is from my stash and I used removable tape to stick it to printer paper and ran it through my HP to print the sentiment.  The doily is from my stash and so are the buttons and rhinestones. The Rustic Cream cardbase and the kraft panel front are both from PaperTrey Inc.

This next card is the birthday card I made for my sister. 

This is from a digital kit called Summer Fun by Albums to Remember designs by Barb.  I printed all the papers off as 8 x 8 sheets and then just went from there.  I made the Happy Birthday panel myself with fonts on my computer and then I used the Silhouette to cut the flowers and leaves that I purchased from the shapes store.  I used the Grand Calibur to cut the scallop on the bottom of the card but if I'd had time, I'd figured out how to do that on the Silhouette too.  The little yellow buttons were picked up at Wal-Mart and the blue ribbon came from Paper Trey Inc.
If you can read the file name of the birthday card, don't laugh...I really can spell but my B won't work in PS if I've got a lot open at one time.  It takes a reboot of the computer to get it to working again and I didn't want to shut down...so the file is called yellowlueirthday...LOL

I've still got two projects to share (told you about the one last week) but neither one is completely done yet.  Hopefully by the end of this week but I'm also cleaning the basement to get ready for the big garage sale on Saturday...which reminds me...need to call the paper tomorrow and put in an ad.

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Halloween Try

I've tried for a couple of days to get this shot and I finally had to take the glass out of the tray because of the reflections. I saw this idea on pinterest done by she wears many hats and really liked it but didn't want to go to that much trouble. 

Do you remember this tray that I had pictures of the Grands in? I cut the shape with my Silhouette cutter out of black scrapbook paper and used the Sunday paper for the background very quick and simple....The hardest part was getting the shot without seeing my orange and pick shirt in it.

Kitchen Drawer Dividers

Here you go....finally got around to putting these up on the blog.  I ended up doing 7 drawers and I stayed under 30.00 for the total job.  Much cheaper then those danged ole dividers they sell that do not fit the drawers!  I did not stained my boards...I can always do it later if I begin to feel like it needs to be.  Bill and I made them so that we can take them in and out for cleaning, so I could always rub some stain on them at another time.
We bought trim boards from Lowes...they sell Poplar and Oak in different lengths and widths.  We bought the 2 inch widths and 4 feet lengths.  All except for the big kitchen gadget drawer and we bought 4 inch width for it. We started out gluing them with the Gorilla Glue but we didn't have enough clamps to hold them all together while it dried so Bill started shooting them with small brads with our air nailer.
I didn't get images of all the drawers before I started but you can get the idea by the couple I did take.

This first image is after cutting, assembly and gluing...this one I did all by myself because I decided I wanted another drawer done and Bill was at work.  So, its only glued and we are leaving it that way to see how good the glue is.  I can't run the air nailer cause I can not control it...LOL...shot the wall a couple times!

This is the junk tool drawer....I hated those baskets but couldn't find anything else that would work. This is the before....

...and this is the after....much nicer, don't you think?

and this is my silverware drawer....I had these plastic divider boxes that 'fit' together but as you can see, even then they didn't 'fit' the drawer. I have to keep my vitamins in this drawer so I can 'remember' to take them!
This is the before....

This is the after...I like it SO much better now...

And these are the kitchen gadget and knife drawers.  I didn't get a before image of these but trust me, they were horrible....especially the big deep drawer...I had no idea I had some of the stuff that I found in it!  I had 3 melon ballers....why?  Guess I couldn't find one when I needed it...LOL...

That's all for now....I'll be back at the end of the week...leaving for my folks in the morning.  Still have stuff to share but no time to get it done...BTW...my house is as clean as it has ever been.....got the whole house done except for cleaning the carpets and I'll get it done when I get back home.  AFTER I get the basement cleaned out, that is!

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Sept 1, 2012

It's not every day that I get this ole body down for a birds-eye view of something...I think there were at least two wrecks on the highway from folks trying to figure out what I was doing laying on the ground...LOL
These sprung up over night after our little bit of rain.  We ended up with 8 tenths.....guess that is all we deserved this go around.  30 miles south of here, they got upwards of 6 inches and KC got 5 to 7 inches.  I'm sure our time will be here soon, just hope we can hold out that long. 

Off to a BBQ!  Have a great Labor Day weekend!

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