New Chalkboards from Old Cabinet Doors

Have you ever been to ReStore?

Habitat’s ReStore resale outlets sell reusable and surplus building materials to the public While every ReStore outlet is a little different, most focus on home improvement goods like furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances.

ReStore resale outlets accept donated goods which are sold to the general public at a fraction of the retail price. The proceeds help local Habitat affiliates fund the construction of Habitat homes within their communities.

Visit the website to see if there is a ReStore near you. 

http://www.habitat.org/restores/

I love going there to see what they have.  I am always looking for shutters when I go there but the lady that is always working tells me they go fast if they get any in.  So for now I know I can go there and get cabinet door fronts.  Lately I have been using them to make chalkboards.

 Clean them up a bit before you get started.

 Tape off the chalkboard area.  Apply a base coat of Kilz to the area you want to use as the frame.

Paint the frame the color you like.

I had to do several coats of red and only two coats of pink. I think I will spray paint the next one that I do.

Apply the chalk board paint, about two or three coats.

Embellish however you like.

This was part of the dessert table at Zac's party and I am excited to hang it in his room now. 

And the pink one is a late birthday gift for a niece.

Sondra

Zachary's Baseball Party

We finally celebrated Zachary's 4th birthday with a baseball themed party!  It was so much fun!

I went a little crazy with the chalk board vinyl.

This sign was for the front porch.

This one was displayed in the kitchen.

All of the guests signed the "Game Ball".

I also went crazy with banners.

This one displayed pictures of Zachary throughout this past year.

This was a baseball card banner.  I used clothespins to attach them to the banner so I wouldn't damage them.

Just a little banner in the entryway. 

Cards that he received in the mail.

I put our collection of baseball jerseys on the

 backs of most of the chairs.

This was the centerpiece on the kitchen island.  We served mini hot dogs (pigs in a blanket), peanuts, popcorn, nachos (chips and queso), and lemonade. 

I was so sad that I didn't snap a picture

 after I set all of the food out. 

The drink station.

A spot for the nachos.

The dessert table.  Cracker Jacks, baseball cupcakes, a mini baseball cake, and baseball cookies.

The Birthday Boy in front of all of the sweets!

The cupcakes were so cute and yummy.

Sister and brother, ready for the party.

He was a little tired of taking pictures...

A family friend made the cookies for us, they are so cute, I love the 4 she put on each one.

All the guests took home a cookie, crackerjacks, and a bag of peanuts and popcorn.

We had a great time and I had fun getting it all together. 

Happy Birthday Zachary!





Patriotic Projects

Summer is in full swing around here.  Fun at the splash parks, lunch with friends, relaxing mornings watching the kids swim in the pool, spending time with family from far away, visiting with friends and neighbors, story time at the library, "picking" blueberries...  We have been busy and the projects I have been working on have not been given the attention required to complete them in a timely manner.  I always seem to work better under pressure, so with the Fourth of July sneaking up on us I finally finished up a few things.

A while back I found several plain white ts in my niece's size for a good price.  So far she is the only one I have made a holiday shirt for.

I made this flag from scrap fabric pieces, used an iron-on adhesive to keep the pieces in place before using the sewing machine to stitch around each strip.

I have been seeing hair accessories made from felt on lots of blogs and in lots of Etsy shops, so I wanted to try a few.

My first attempt was this flower, it is a bit large...

Patriotic pinwheel clippies for all of the nieces . . .

One more pinwheel clippie and a few ribbon flower clippies for a sweet neighbor.

Well, maybe tomorrow I can whip up a shirt for my sweeties but it is highly unlikely...they have plenty of red, white, and blue in their closets, so we are set for The Fourth.

Happy Independence Day

God Bless the USA

Thank you to all of the men and women who serve our country so that we can have our freedom!

Creating for Friends

We have a friend that is expecting a baby boy soon, so I embelished this onsie and burp cloth with some camo fabric for the little one.  I have a hard time deciding what to put on onsies for boys.  So, I went with another peace sign...

 Our friend Lexi came over the other day and went through my stash of ribbon and picked out some combinations and asked me to make her a few bows.  Of course I said I would!

 Orange, black and white are the colors of her softball team.

 She just liked these ribbons.

This one is my favorite.  I think I will make a few like this for Abigail.

Family Tree

We watch a little too much television around here.  We love the Sprout channel and they are alway sharing crafts for families to do together and that is where the inspiration for this little quick craft came from. 
I cut all the pieces out and let the kids take turns assembling it. 

We just included the people in our house but you could do a "real" family tree with more family members.

Sondra 

Patriotic Kid Project

Here we go with another hand/foot print project!  Just grab your red, white and blue paint, brushes, paper, markers and have your printer ready to go.
Paint the hand or foot like Old Glory.

Press foot or hand on the paper and have your cutie dip their index finger in the white paint to add "stars". 

Use markers to add details and print your favorite patriotic phrase using a cute font.

Sondra