Gotta Love a Chalkboard

You've seen spray chalkboard paint right?

It's like the best thing since sliced bread.

Rust Oleum makes it.

It rocks.

I used it the other day for a small project.

I have these child sized chairs that I've had since the kids were little.

I actually have 4 little chairs, but only used 3 here.  They came with an enamel-topped table that I bought when the kids were small enough to think eating and playing on it were cute.

I also have a problem space by my front stairway.

I would really like a bench/hook/coat rack piece of furniture made for that area...but it hasn't happened yet, so I'm improvising.

I set out these three little chairs the other day and had a lightbulb (I think a literal lightbulb) appear above my head.

Why not paint these with chalkboard paint and use them for a catch all for the kids school bags, or purses/coats when people come to visit.

I got out my handy dandy spray paint can of black chalkboard paint and went to work.  After it dried, I wanted to write some numbers on them in chalk, and then modpodge over them, but when I modpodged over them, the chalk disappeared, so.....

I added some paper letters and mod podged over them.

In a group, it looks much better.

They will stay for now, until I think of something else to go in their place.

Get out of jail free pass...and some changes

I feel like I've been given a get outta jail free pass.

School is done.  My days are not monopolized by a set work schedule.

NOT that where I was working was bad...I LOVED the people, loved the school...but my house/projects/garden/DIY crafts have suffered greatly all year.

There just isn't enough hours in every day to get things done after work.

Sad but true.

However, now I feel free as a bird.  Free to set my own schedule and do the things I need to accomplish (even if it's just my "own" to-do list.)

I'm starting with rooms.  Something will change in each of the rooms in the house.  It might be small and insignificant, like getting rid of clutter/things not needed anymore...but in other rooms, the look will change as well.

The living room will get a dose of light buttery yellow paint once I nail down the right color.  Grace's room will get some TLC (I'm living with a pre-teen who thinks first the world revolves around her, and second that the room is just one big closet, which means the closet is not the only place where clothes dwell....ah, she's got another thing comin' this summer and she doesn't even know it!), Evan's room will get a mild make-over, and so will our bedroom.

For example...in Grace's room, since she is SO into fashion and New York City (don't know why this particular city keeps popping up in her vocabulary...) we will try this simple craft with her desk.

We will tweak this a little bit.  Her desk is white, but it has big drawers, so I'm thinking I'll use my cricut to make her vinyl New York city names to put on the drawers.  She seems "warm" to this idea, meaning it might change on a moment's notice.  She also wants her room rearranged (a girl after my own heart...I can't stand things the same for too long), and I'm sure there will be many posters from her magazines put up on the walls.

Evan is a harder sell.  As a boy, his room is a dilemma to me.  He is right now into comics, and after I took him to see the new Avenger's movie a month ago, he's into playing with his iron man toys again.
So, I'm thinking this will be framed in his room somewhere...

and maybe I will take the Sunday comics we get once a week and mod podge them onto an initial for his wall.

(an E of course...)
and maybe I'll take the current wooden desk organizer he has and mod podge some comic book pages onto that too.

His will be a gradual process, but I'll post pics with both rooms when done.

All in all, I've got some big ideas floating around in my head, and it feels good, cause I've finally got my craft mojo back.

Oh, and a case of bronchitis, but thanks to my doctor friend in Sunday School class, I've got some meds for the weekend to help me feel better.

Tomorrow, it's gonna be 93 degrees.  Yuck.  I think I'll get some frames spray painted!

What are your weekend plans?

Keepin' it together!

It's been awhile since I've been able to go here.

It's sad actually.  It's my happiest spot in the house!
What with it's polka dotted lampshade...

and picture "chandelier"...

and all the maps (even those mysteriously missing Kentucky).

 My happy place hold old books for craft projects,

and my most favorite of Grace's school craft projects.

You see, I haven't been able to "create" anything lately because we've been too busy, and many other things have been occupying my mind lately and I've felt very "uncreative."

However, that plain purse calendar I bought on clearance a couple of weeks ago, made me want to go up to my craft table tonight.

First I picked out the paper I wanted to use.

All the paper I picked is from the October Afternoon paper line.  You can see them here.
(The gold flowered paper is from the Seaside line:  yellow bikini.  The dark turquoise paper is from the Fly a Kite line:  sprinkers, and the light turquoise paper with the flowers is from the Sidewalks line and it also has red stripes on the back.)  I LOVE October Afternoon.  The papers are retro and cool at the same time.

I used my Stampin' Up paper punch...

my Elmer's tape runner...(from Wal-Mart no less)

and my favorite distressing ink.

I cut my paper (I used the gold as the base) to the size of the calendar, and added embellishments that I cut from all the other papers. 
The result...

Now, all I need to do is fill it out!

Initials Anyone?

I'm all about my initials. Well, my last name anyway. With a name like Yoder, I share it with ALOT of people in my area. Mostly amish. NOT that there's anything bad about that, but when we were picking out the names of our unborn children, EVERYTHING sounded amish with the last name Yoder, so thanks for that honey! :-)

Anyway, I hope you don't all think this is becoming a craft blog. It's not, NOT that there's anything wrong with that, either, I do like to document our life, it just seems like since I've been back to work at school, I have a lot less time to just go out and take a creative picture of something and blog about it, PLUS, I'm on a very creative streak, AND this sentence is getting very long, so I'll stop.

So, once again I was browsing this wonderful Ladies blog. I can't help myself...she is AWESOME!
and I came across a craft where she made a very cool craft with her initial (S) and some Vinyl.

Now, I've always wanted to have my initial setting around the house, AND I've always wanted to buy the vinyl I can use with my Cricut machine, I just haven't until now....so I did.

Remember that frame I bought at Goodwill last Saturday....here, I'll refresh your memory...

I like it because it was $.50, which on 50% off day makes it $.25 PEOPLE!!! I have red all throughout the house, so this fit well. When I went up to buy it, the cashier said, "Now, isn't that sad...someone didn't even keep the picture of this lady. It's a real picture after all!"

True, how true. I'll show you what I found when I dismantled the frame.

First of all, this card was behind the picture. I'm totally using this for some kind of fall craft! And secondly, this was on the back of the picture.

Familiar to anyone? If so, here's your long lost relative...I'll be happy to send it to you!

So, task at hand, I got out my supplies.

Vinyl and a cricut, who knew it would be so easy?

Now, this paper on the left is NOT pink, it's creme, but for some reason this is what it came out like. Unfortunate.

I just messed around with some scrap paper until I came up with a combo that I liked. Also, the color box distress ink, is a MUST for any project. It gives it that old/vintage/weathered look.

And Wa-la, first one down, one more to go.

Next, at Hobby Lobby, I picked up one of these chipboard initials.

Since both will reside in my home, in the same area, I used some of the paper left over from the frame project.

Then I traced around the initial like this...

cut it out, and adhered it with these (BEST THING EVER MADE. NO JOKE.)

How does it look?