Pinterest Play Day!-Make your own chalk board! EASY!!!

Excuse the crapola photos here....
I've had a piece of foam core board for over a year now...because..well...Im a packrat and can't throw anything away and I just knew that I would use it for SOMETHING...
Well..a year later that something has come...
A chalk board!!
I seen on pinterest how you can make your own chalkboard paint using powdered tile grout...well.I didn't have any of that, but I did have plaster of paris..so i figured..really...what do I have to lose??...
So I gathered all my supplies...
foam core board
plaster
black acrylic craft paint
foam brush
disposable cup....
and away i went...

I squirted about a half cup of paint into the cup and 4 scoops of plaster into the paint.

I stirred it well with the foam brush and then painted the foam core...

I let it dry..and it dries quick and painted on 4 more layers..

To hang it I used those command adhesive strip thinga ma bobs...

Seeings as the foam core was so light they were perfect for this project...

In about an hour I was able to write on the board with chalk..

I hung this in my kitchen..and the whole family has had fun drawing on it..

leaving messages and words of encouragement..and WHAT'S FOR DINNER!!!

The plaster seemed to do the trick! I've since wiped it down with a damp cloth and the paint did not come off. The possibilies on this project are endless! You could paint anything! Even a wall..or door..or...well you get the idea :) Also keep in mind you can use any color paint you want!

Have fun with it!!



Picky Little Plant

           Remember I told you I cut out alot of hearts..

                                       well here are some of the things I ended up doing with them all.                              

I hung some from the greenery on the hutch. (Love how

this turned out!)

                                         Then I had alot left over so I got this grand idea to make plant picks.
                                          I just glued them onto a skewer and sprinkled glitter on them.

I do believe that I went a little over board on the Valentine decorating :)

I'm already brain storming St. Patty's Day :)

Love is in the air...well sorta...

I started pulling out the RED and PINK stuff today!!

I wanted to share with you what I made a back in December.

 Little Heart Scatters..Made from SALT DOUGH!

I cut them out with a little heart cookie cutter..

 Spray painted them red-quick and easy here folks..

 Shot them with a coat of sealer..And BAM! Done!

Cute little bowl scatters...I made star scatters, gingerbread men scatters and Santa's boots and hat scatters (I will share at another time)

Here is the salt dough recipe that I used..

Take about 1 cup salt and dissolve it in about 1 1/4 cup water (or a little more if needed). Then stir in about 3 cups flour ( one cup at a time), until it's a nice soft dough.

You can shape it or cut it out with cookie cutters. Let it harden or bake it at 200 degree F until hard. Then paint with regular acrylics or spray paint :) Be sure your scatters are completely dry and cooled off before you paint them. Store in a container where no moisture or water can get to them.

I sold these this year for $2 a dozen and they were a big hit!



Happy Valentine's Day!!

We seen this idea on "Family Fun". (Love that site!) And Carter (my 8 year old) wanted to make these for his Valentine's instead of giving out paper ones.

The initial idea sounded cool..and truely it was easy..but when you wait till the VERY last minute to do this it becomes work..lol..

If you have never made home made play dough you really should give it a try. It's VERY easy and was made in like a total of 15 minutes-seriously! And it was fun to watch it transform...however I think I need to start using the shake weight, this stuff gave my arm a work out lol..

Ok so here is the recipe from Family Fun...

Materials

3 Cups of white flour


1 1/2 Cups of salt


1 1/2 Tablespoons of cream of tartar


3 1/4 Cups of water


6 Tablespoons of vegetable oil


Red food coloring


Rolling pin

Cookie Cutter of your choice..obviously we used a heart....

In a medium sauce pan mix all the dry ingredients with a wisk or fork. mix them together well.

In a separate bow mix all the wet ingredients. Add your food coloring until you get your desired color. I used gel food coloring..and the color did not come off on our hands when the dough was played with.

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry, turn your burner on medium and continuously stir...don't stop stirring you don't want it to scorch.

Once you get it all stirred it will be super smooth liquid for a little bit then all of a sudden you will notice that it's getting lumps all over it..don't freak out this is normal..it's beginning to thicken..yay that's what you want.

As you are stirring it you will feel it getting thicker and thicker and your arm will seem to get wimpier and wimpier (I promise ) This will take around 10 minutes,..once it has gotton thick enough that you can't stir it anymore, let it sit and cool.

Once it's cool, knead the dough and roll it around into balls to be prepared to be rolled out. I thought it would be cool at this point to add red glitter but the boy didn't think so...what does he know about cool???

Roll out flat and cut with your cookie cutters. I got lucky and went to Dollar Tree and found these ziplock bags with hearts all over the outside. Perfect for the dough. I was going to add a real fancy to/from tag but decided against it..I didn't really feel like taking the time to do it in all honesty!

We bagged em up and Carter wrote his name on them..as you can see we didn't even pay attention that the hearts even went in right side up..lazy I tell ya lazy lol..so there ya have it. Simple as that..not real "boyish" like I think Carter was hoping for...but I think the kids will like it..I mean really who doesn't love play dough..?? Oh that's right...other mom's lol..I see a future beating at the next PTO meeting ha ha..!!

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Home Made Laundry Soap

With all the hoopla I've been seeing online about "Homemade Laundry Soap", I finally decided it was time for me to jump in and give it a whirl. I procrastinated on making it for some time because I thought that it would take forver and be a mess to make on top of buying the first time supplies would be expensive..I was wrong about all of the above..it was fast, simple and cheap to make!!

So let's begin...

To make this you need the following....

1 quart Water (boiling)

2 cups Bar soap (grated) This can be any soap but ivory or fels Naptha is what is recommended. Also recommended is glycerin soap. (which is what I used) But really the soap is your choice.

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing Soda

1 quart Water (boiling)

2 additional Gallons of warm water

Ok so you got all those items at your local walmart in the grocery isle (over by the oxyclean..dryer sheets etc.) Rough estimate on cost is $5-$6 total.

 Add finely grated bar soap to the 2quarts boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

Please Note- I used glycerin soap for 2 reason, one I had it on hand already from making it for Christmas gifts, it's a soft soap so you just have to chop it up and it melts quickly, Two because it is said to be a natural fabric softner, thus eliminating fabric softner. Altho Im not sure yet them I'm prepared to give up my liquid fabric softner because the truth is I don't buy it to make my clothes "fluffy" I buy it because it makes my clothes smell good :)
Pour the soapy water into a large, clean pail once it's ALL melted and add the Borax and Washing Soda and 2 gallons of water Stir well

 

I raided the recycle bin and used empty fabric softner and laundry jugs to store this in. Now when I need to use it I just shake it up and add 1/3 cup of the soap to the laundry. Which I measured and it equals a capful on my jug.

I wondered tho, how would this effect my washer since it's a HE Front Loader..so to google I went and here is some information I found.....


There is a good reason for using detergent that is specially formulated for these newer front-load washers. HE detergents are concentrated laundry detergents that are low-sudsing especially for use with low water high-efficiency washers.

If regular detergents were to be used in front-loading and high-efficiency washers, the presence of too many suds could 'confuse' washing cycles, cause delays and make proper rinsing of clothes difficult.

So it seems that this soap is doing ok in my front loader. It does not suds up like your regular soap will. But that's ok, because we all know suds are a visual and aren't really what cleans our clothes RIGHT??!!

Apon using this soap I found that it cleaned the clothes, yes even Dan's pig barn smelling jeans..there was not a scent of any kind what so ever in the jeans...they were very soft..I did however use a dryer sheet because I didn't want him walking around picking up people's socks and mittens due to static cling seeings as it's winter and dry here in Michigan.

So all in all, I've used this soap in 5 loads and all have came out clean and so far I am pleased with it. This recipe made two big jugs and then some (I ran out of jugs lol) I'd say it's worth giving a try and if you don't like it you can always use it to clean your toilets or anything else you'd need a cleaner for.

• Now..hmm...wonder if I can figure out a way to make liquid fabric softner tee hee...

How to make expensive vases for cheap!

The photos aren't exactly the greatest because I got a last minute whim of an idea to take a quick photo of this project, with my cell phone no less...

To buy something like this from Pottery Barn it could cost you $80. BUT to MAKE something like this it will cost you $2!!

My sisters and I always like to get each other very small gifts for Christmas, at the last minute I was stumped on what to get or make for them.

So off to the Dollar Tree I went..

I purchashed the biggest vases that they had at a buck each, and glass candle sticks..also a buck each..

Got out my handy dandy e6000 and started assembling. All you do is glue the candle stick to the bottom of the vase. Make sure all the glass is clean and free of stickers..and there you have it..

Add some ornaments, candy canes, some greenery, maybe a ribbon around the bottom..so versitile too!

Can be filled with various items for various holidays or used for candles..etc..either way I hope they enjoy them!!

Altered Cracker Box

So the challenge presented was

"How to reuse cereal boxes"..I seen this idea a long time

ago on the internet and kept it in the back of my mind..

I didn't have an empty cereal box, but I ddi have an empty cracker box so forward I marched...

I popped it open at the seams

I slathered it in GLUE STICK (no bubbling)
and put scrapbooking paper on it and then took my handy dandy
brayer and rubbed the heck out of it...
I put the paper over the picture part of the box. I figured that way the inside of the "bag/box" would look nicer when presented as a gift...just a thought...I think the paper would stick better for durability on the nonpainted side tho..just depends on the glue you use too probably...anyways...



I even covered the flaps of the box that would normally "close" the box up at the top..then I tucked those pieces down..again..you could snip them off..I just did it for presentation and stability..your prefrence.

Then I just glued it all back together again (I used the glue gun so it would be a bit speedier..)

Then it was on to decorations..I just kept it super simple..kinda a trial run per-say..

Punched two holes on each side of the box...

This is the other side of the box..I rather like it plain quite better actually then I do the other side..

I made a quick to/from tag with the left over scraps

Inserted some ribbon for the handles (I should made them longer but..oops ole well...trial and error again..lol..)

Stuffed in some blue tissue and there you have it...an altered cracker box suitable for gift giving...

Now I am aware that this is pretty simple and not real fancy cute..but I just wanted to give it a try and it was something to do while watching HOARDERS...so quick and easy won...I'd love to see your altered boxes if you choose to make some!!!

Making A Fall Tree

Excuse my funky mantle right now..it's in the process of being redone and repainted..

I started out with an old cereal box...and a stencil and some free hand...

Glued them on to various scrapbook papers...

Inked the edges...

Cut them all out..... (again)

Hot glued some string on them...

Added some corrugated cardboard to a jar, plopped the branches in it..

And there you have it...a quick fall decorations..!!