Chalkboard Pantry Door

For the last two years I have been trying to convince my Tall Man that our pantry door would look great if it were painted with chalkboard paint. He was not thrilled with the idea of two black panels on the door. About a year ago my favorite mother-in-law brought our girls a chalkboard, easel style. It's big, it's bulky, and takes up quite a bit of room in my pretty nice sized pantry. After stubbing a few toes, knocking it over and spilling chalk everywhere, Tall Man was on board with painting the pantry door.

As soon as I got the okay I ran to Lowe's with a 10% off coupon and picked up a can of chalkboard paint. Didn't take long and the door was taped and painted. Woo hoo!

I also picked up a pack of Chalk Ink pens from Michael's (kind of pricey at $12 for 4.)

I love the way it looks now. My girls like being able to doodle close by while we're at work in the kitchen. Here it is!

Blessings.

Linking to: Centsational Girl

Top 5 Tuesday: DIY Father's Day Gifts

Given that Father's Day is this coming Sunday I thought I would share with you some of the super cute home made gifts I found out in blog land.

This Father's Day Board Book is cute by Tip Junkie

Working this poem into a gift would be very sweet. Found it at Rocket Moms.

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it ... Dad

You can ALWAYS count on How Does She? to have a great gift idea.

Martha Stewart is right on with these labels. Maybe some home made bbq sauce inside?

Family Fun came up with a cute idea here too.

Blessings.

2x4 Picture Holder

I've been working to get Father's Day gifts put together and have them ready to share before the day is actually here. If you haven't been over to How Does She? you MUST go check them out. These ladies are uber talented and pull off some pretty amazing things with a simple 2x4. For this picture holder I used their 2x4 idea and put my own spin on it.

Here is what I used:

• 2x4 (8 ft long, on sale for about $2)
• scrapbook paper (already had)
• sand sponge (already had)
• Mod Podge (already had)
• ink pad (already had)
• acrylic paint & sponge brushes (already had)
• wire (picked up a big spool of it for about $7 at Lowe's)

First I had the Tall Man cut the board down for me (in a 'no questions asked' manner, of course.) These are 12 inches long. I sanded the edges so they were soft and had a bit of a warn look. Next I painted the back and ends of the 2x4, so it looked like th

is. This picture was taken after it was all put together. :-S

Next I cut my scrapbook paper to size and applied with Mod Podge. I used my Cricut to cut "LOVE YOU" and put those on with Mod Podge as well. Once all the paper was on and the Mod Podge was dry I drilled three holes in the top, the same size as the wire I used. To make the wire into a picture holder I wrapped it around a pair of needle nose pliers, like so.

My last steps were putting just a dot of hot glue on the holes and inserting the wire and adding a little paint to the edges for a more finished look.

Here's the finished product!

Blessings.

In the Works

Father's Day is next week and I am just now getting around to making gifts. My projects are "in the works" right now so I'm sharing my friend, Jamie's gift to her husband. I don't have a tutorial from Jamie, just a few pictures I took when I was there earlier this week.Jamie made this by cutting up a 2x4 and spray painting the sides. With some inked up scrapbook paper and letters cut with a Cricut she mod podged it all together. Add some embellishments and ta da! Super cute and heartfelt Father's Day gift.

Blessings.

A Beautiful Drive

A couple weeks ago, on the Sunday before Memorial Day, my family took a drive to an all class reunion in the town my dad grew up in. It's a few hour drive from our home but it was absolutely beautiful. Thought I'd share a few with you.

I absolutely LOVE barns, so of course I had to snap some pictures on the way.

My great-Aunt and Grandmother. These are close-ups from the picture of their graduating class.

Playing on the playground at the K-12 school. I managed to smile for the camera after being pooped on by a bird. YUCK!!

And finally just a few more random pictures I thought were pretty cool.

Blessings.