Chalkboard and Corkboard Cabinet Door

I try to be organized.  I really do.  It just seems like I’m always taking one step forward and two steps back when it comes to keeping things neat and tidy.  One of our (my husband and me both) worst problems is making lists, misplacing them and making more lists.  Then of course we have ten lists all over the house with everything from honey-do’s to groceries to reminders.  And of course there’s overlap between the lists.  Yep it’s bad.

You might think that having a smart phone would help.  But dang it, it’s not smart enough to read my mind!!  I actually have to find the time to input appointments, reminders and such.  Well, today I am making an attempt to at least have ONE place to put lists, important reminders and such.  And best of all, it’s hidden away inside the cabinet.



Check out the before pic… now that’s keeping it real.  Papers, boxes, you name it, get shoved into any open space when company is coming.  (Oh don’t pretend, you know you do it too!)  Only Martha Stewart keeps the inside of her cabinets neat all the time.  And if you do, wow, I am in awe!!  You are my hero.  Wanna come to my house? 

So this actually turned out to be a pretty easy (as in during nap time) project.
You need:
* a cabinet door
* screw driver to take it off and put it back on
* chalkboard paint
* painter’s tape
* cork board tile
* fabric of choice
* glue

First I took the cabinet off it’s hinges and taped off the area I wanted to paint.  Then I applied the first coat of chalkboard paint (I used three total) and let it dry. 




Meanwhile, I cut a cork-board tile down to size to fit in the door and a scrap of fabric a few inches larger.



I glued the fabric onto the board with Elmer’s glue, cuz face it, it’s cardboard and fabric.  No need for fancy glue… yet.


Then I did two more coats of chalkboard paint.  Actually, the first two coats I painted on with a brush to get a good coverage without a lot of overspray.  The third coat I sprayed on so I wouldn’t have brush strokes. It worked marvelously. 



I used wood glue to attach the covered cork tile to the inside of the door.  You could use Liquid Nails or any other strong glue that’s good with wood.



And here it is with the door re-hung.  LUV IT!!!  Nope, I still haven’t cleaned that cabinet out.  The kids are up from their nap.  No time now.  LOL!


Little by little I WILL get more organized!
Rebecca

Visit the party at:

Guest Room Bedside Table

Aside from an occasional overnight visit from one of my siblings or my husband’s folks, our guest room is mainly used by my mom and dad when they visit.  In fact, after my grandmother passed away, my dad grabbed up his favorite bed and mattress from her home and brought it to me so he would always have a good place to sleep when he stayed with me.  Well that was many years, a marriage, and several houses ago.  And I’ve recently moved the bedframe and side tables to our master bedroom.  Dad’s favorite mattress now sits on a metal frame and didn’t have any side tables… until now.


I found a bed tray/side table online that I really liked.  The top tray can be taken off and moved around.  It’s great for eating in bed.

~ I know because I got another one for my bedroom and 

hubby has used it to bring me breakfast in bed.  *big grin* ~

I added a basket with extra soaps, lotion, and other toiletries in case my guests forget something.  My mom, of course, is much more impressed by this than my dad.  LOL!  My dad is one who wrinkles his nose funny at fancy scented soaps.



On the other hand, Dad is the one who gets up to drink water during the night.  With this graceful decanter and tumbler set, he can now reach his water from the bed.  No more getting up and finding his way to the kitchen.



This bedside birdie is my little chipper chirper.  It sits by a nest of sweet little egg-shaped soaps in a dish.




But it ties in nicely with the bird theme on the pillow shams and blanket.



Do you like to provide a little extra touch when your guests come to visit?

Rebecca

Earn Spending $$ for your DIY Projects

 
I wouldn’t normally use my blog as a way to advertise or promote something, but knowing these are hard times and everyone is looking for more ways to make an extra buck I thought I’d share.





Now, I’m usually a VERY skeptical person when it comes to online money making deals.  I do my research and almost always realize it’s not worth entering my personal information or risking being scammed.  But a friend turned me on to one and I’ve been trying it for the last few months.  I’m very pleased and wanted to share it with you.

It’s an easy way to earn a little spending money that’s actually safe, easy and free.  It’s a search tool called Swagbucks.  By using this search tool, I can “win” points which I use towards prizes and gift cards.  In just a few months time I’ve already cashed in for $75 in Amazon gift cards. 

Woohoo!! That’s not bad for free money!!





Of course, at I first I didn’t want to leave my beloved Google search engine.  We’d been besties for the last several years and got along great.  But then I found out that Swagbucks is powered by Google.  Woot!  This means that I get the same search results back from my searches.  The layout is just different on the Swagbucks page.

So, now I’m doing my searches just like before AND getting MONEY, MULLAH, DINERO, BUCKS!!!

(btw, I just used my Swagbucks search engine to lookup how to spell dinero and won 11 swagbucks!!  It's so easy!)

I love free money.






So, if you think this is something you’d like to try, please click on any of the links in the blog post or the link in the sidebar.  That way Swagbucks can thank me for referring you.

Thanks gals and happy earning!!
Rebecca

The Closet is Finished

Sure enough, I knew that if I blogged about an unfinished project it would be just the motivation I needed to find time to get it done.  I promise my family has not suffered as a coincidence.  They are still well fed, loved and nurtured.  (But I probably ought to vacuum and do some laundry now.)

And of course it helped that several times this week all three kids napped at the same time!!

So, at last, I got the closet finished.  If you missed how I’ve been without a master closet for the last two years, go <here>.  Before this project, it was just a bare, empty room.  I used ClosetMaid Selectives shelving and rods from Home Depot in a nice cherry finish.

After pulling our clothes out of boxes, bags, and the kid’s closets, I populated the new rods and shelves.  I’m thrilled with how much space I, um, we really have now.

His Side

 Back Side

Her Side

The room seemed so small before (well it really is small), but now it seems so much bigger with all the custom shelves and hanging rods. 

I did spend a few bucks on a fabric box for laundry. I chose Martha Stewart's because it had a place for a label.


Then I considered buying more nice boxes for storing other things, but decided I couldn’t justify spending the money when we have tons of cardboard boxes in the garage.  After all it’s just a closet… with a door… and a dim light to boot…

But then on second thought, who wants to see ugly cardboard boxes in such a nice closet?!? 

Not me. So I pulled my creative brain out of it’s hiding place, dusted it off, and went to work crafting.  First I covered the boxes with some textured wallpaper I got free.  Then I put pretty fabrics on for lids and printed labels. 
 

There!  Pretty and functional.  I love the brown fabric and the “Winter” box just has a scrap of burlap tied over the top.

Ooh, me so happy!!!

So then today while I was reading back in my blogroll I saw Ronda’s closet makeover featured at The DIY Show Off.  I loved the His and Her signs she did but wanted something a little different.  I’ve had these frames tucked away for a while and her post inspired me to use them in our closet.  Here’s where the inspiration took me.

On hubby’s side a daily reminder of my love from Uppercase Living.


On my side, a daily reminder of the kind of woman I should be.  (First saw this quote by Maya Angelou on my friend Dawn’s FB page.  Love it girlie - had to borrow.)


Organization feels so good.


Rebecca


Check out this project and tons of other great talent at The DIY Showoff's Project Parade, The Girl Creative, and Making the World Cuter Mondays!

Custom Master Closet

Do you ever have those projects that you think you will complete in just one day, but somehow three weeks later you’re STILL working on them.  I’m in the middle of one of those right now.  For the last two years I’ve been keeping a dirty little secret.  Every time someone comes to visit, since we built the house two years ago, I try to make sure everything is clean and nicely decorated.  Or at least as well as you can do that with toddlers.  LOL!  But what no one has known (until now) is that I don’t have a master closet!!  I mean I have a room, but for two years I have had no hanging rods, shelves, NOTHING!  Just boxes with clothes, piles of clothes, and shoes strewn underneath everything.  Yeah, you could really get lost in there.  A few months ago I finally put up a shower curtain rod for my husband to hang his nice shirts on.

WHY?!? you ask, would the builder not finish the closet!!  Well, solely because I told him not to.  You see, I had this vision of a beautiful custom closet.  Like these:



And I was going to get it done soon after we built the house.  But then, YIKES! KaCHING! Have you seen the price of those things?!?  So I procrastinated for two years trying to decide whether to build my own or buy a cheaper alternative then the nice ones.  Finally after living off the floor for so long I gave up on ever having time to make one myself and broke down and spent still too much money on some cheaper ClosetMaid shelving and rods.  That was three weeks ago and it was supposed to be finished that day.  Now, after several additional trips to Home Depot, cause let’s face it once you get it in the space it’s always easier to redesign and use the space more efficiently, I’m ALMOST finished. BTW, it’s hard taking pics inside a small closet with my camera, sorry.

Left wall

Left back corner

Right back corner

Right wall 

 

Maybe in another three weeks…  I’ll keep you posted.

Rebecca

Thrifting at a NEW Thrift Store!!

 
I’m so excited!!!  Today I found a NEW thrift store.  Okay, it’s actually not new, but I didn’t know it was there so it’s NEW to ME!!!  This is especially exciting to me because I was having to drive 20+ miles to get to the nearest thrift stores and this one is hidden away in the little town closest to where I live… only about 5 miles from me!!   This is also especially good because being in a small town the selection is better (less shoppers finding the good stuff first) AND the prices are way better!!

In fact, I had given up on shopping at the nearest Goodwill.  I regularly found things there were priced about the same as if the item was brand new.  And with discount coupons to places like Hob Lob or Jo-Ann, the Goodwill store was actually MORE expensive!  HUH?!?!

So when I found this “NEW” thrift store today that supports Disabled American Veterans, I was psyched.  It’s HUGE!  HUGE, I tell you!!!!  And the prices are awesome!  Take for example these two great jars I got.

(Oooohh, check out the spooky shadows on the wall.  I need to work on my camera skills.)

The one with the cork stopper was $0.90.  YEP 90 cents!  The other one was $1.91.  It’s hard to tell in the pic, but they are both about 12 inches tall.

Also got these great frames.  The 11 x 14 I will need for the new baby’s birth announcement.  It matches the ones I have for the older siblings.  This was $0.70.  The bigger frame is 24 x 25 and has a heavy duty hanger on the back.  I plan to use it for a cork board, memo board, chalkboard, or some combination of these.


Also got this great clay pot for under 2 bucks!  It’s a big eight inch one. Woohoo!! 



The possibilities are endless.  I may paint it and put tools in it.  Or add a little chalkboard paint to it and plant herbs in it like these from DIY Network’s site…

 
The last great things I found were these pretty little cups and saucers for a couple dollars.   I love the blue pears with the leaves.



I’ve been looking for some I like so I can make the cute little bird feeders that I’ve seen all over the place.  Like this one from Ehow.


So now I have lots of materials to continue my crafting fun.  If only I could buy time and energy at a thrift store, I’d be set!!

Rebecca

Little Boy’s Denim Shaker Peg Strip and Basket

 

I’ve been working on turning our guest room into a cute cheery girl room for lil sis, since she will soon need to vacate the nursery  for the new baby.  I’ve been taking my time doing it, but I think spending so much time on it has left big brother feeling a little jealous.  So I wanted to do a quick project for his room that would make him feel special, without taking too much time away from my little girl’s room makeover.
A while back I had seen a Shaker peg strip in a book at the library (sorry I don’t remember which one) and always liked the look.  I remembered it and thought it would be a perfect addition to his room.  After looking around for more inspiration, I found the pic below and decided this denim look was a technique I wanted to try.  Now, I can’t for the life of me find it back to give credit where credit is due.  If you see this anywhere, PLEASE let me know!



So… wanna know how cheap I really am?  Hubby had bought some lumber for a project he’s been wanting to do.  It’s been months now and he still hasn’t found the time to work on it, so I “borrowed” the two 1 x 3 x 8’ boards he had and went to work.  Hey, if he ever gets around to doing his project, he can buy some more wood, right?  He loves me!!

And I picked up some pegs from Joann's... couple bucks.


First I used a miter saw to make 45 degree cuts on the 1x3 pieces where I needed them to fit the length of one wall and a short span on the adjacent wall.  If you need more info about how to do this let me know.
Then I drilled holes part way through the boards every few feet for the pegs.  Put some wood glue in the hole and pushed the pegs in.  I made sure when I drilled the holes that the pegs would have a snug fit and the glue is for extra security.
 


Now the painting can begin!  This is the paint and glaze I used.  I used a lighter blue for the base and a darker blue glaze for the denim fabric effect.




After a quick sanding I put on a base coat of Valspar “Blue Eyes” Interior Satin.  Make sure you use a satin finish!



I wasn’t really concerned about perfect coverage or brush strokes.  Just get some color down on the board and pegs.



After that dries, move on to the glaze.  I had Lowes tint a can of glaze with Valspar “Indigo Streamer”.



For the first coat of glaze, only run the brush in one direction across the width of the board.  Make sure you don’t put it on too thick.  You want to see the base coat through the brush strokes.



After this has dried, do the second coat of glaze in the other direction across the length of the board to create the look of fabric.
 
 

To hang the boards on the wall, I used my handy-dandy DeWalt  brad nailer (I love DeWalt tools!) and enlisted some help from the hubs to hold the boards in  place.  I chose to put the boards above “normal” person height to keep heads from running into the pegs sticking off the wall.
My son can’t reach the pegs yet, but when he’s older he can.  And for now it can hold things I’d like to hang up.  I mean really… he’s three… what would he hang up anyway… his sole purpose in life right now is to leave everything possible laying all over the floor! LOL!





To tie into the new denim theme in the room, I then used the same painting technique to turn this basket



into this…



It’s a great place for him to store books, toys, etc.
Now back to my little girl’s room…  some day I’ll finish and reveal that makeover to you too!

Rebecca

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