Chalkboard Craziness

One of my dear friends stopped by today. We haven't seen eachother for a few weeks so its always so nice to catch up, laugh and talk story. She is a fellow blogger. Love her blog. If you ever get a chance or need a good laugh visit her blog http://timeforb.blogspot.com/. I was telling her about my new adventure into the blog world. She had some great ideas and recommendations. Her first one was I should write a post about all the chalkboard in my house. Loved that idea! So here it is:)

Chalkboard paint is the new big thing! It seems like all my friends are chalkboard paint happy. My obsession with chalkboard paint started years ago after a friend of mine painted a chalkboard wall in her sons room. I fell in love! I wanted to chalkboard everything! When we moved into are home four years ago we had to redo everything. We didn't have much money so everything we did had to be budget friendly. I wanted to get new doors for my kids rooms but couldn't afford to get brand new ones so I went to Maui's restore and picked up two doors for $20. We remolded a lot of are house from things from are Maui restore. Check your local one out. You will be suprised to what you find there. With a little elbow grease and an imagination you can have what you want but for a much lesser price. The doors I found were in rough shape.They needed some help so I decided to paint them a fresh coat of white. Then I painted the raised part chalkboard. I went back and forth not knowing if I wanted black doors facing are living area but once I did the first one, I knew they were perfect. They have been such a blessing. We write messages, decorate them with chalk drawings ect. I adore them. The kids love them too! I had a friend recreate these in her own home but put magnetic paint underneath. Brilliant idea. You need like 20 thousand coats though.

When are kitchen was being remolded after a water leak. I really wanted to incorporate a chalkboard wall somewhere. We were enclosing are laundry nook. So with the help of my friend and contractor we decided the wall and pocket door to the laundry room would be the best place. The door we chose for the laundry room was just a plain slab door which was great. To make sure the chalkboard wall was smooth and not textured, my contractor used a smooth pressed board. I primed it all and then painted it with the chalkboard paint. It took three coats. I think it turned out pretty well. We are such a visual family so its great to put verses we are memorizing, shopping list or schedule that week.

I found these jars from Pier One about three years ago. I LOVE them. They are great for everything. My friend made her own out of chalkboard paint and jars she already owned. They turned out beautiful.

I found two of these pictures frames at Ross one day for only $2 each. The only thing was they were pink and blue and were meant for baby pictures. I thought it would be a cute idea to paint them with the chalkboard paint.  I had them put away in a box for awhile and forgot I even had them. I brought them out for the fall:)

I could post many more pictures but these are my favorite. Chalkboard paint is so fun to work with! You can practically use it anywhere on anything. Go for it! See what you can paint. Warning: You might get a very addicted :) My husband has to tell me from time to time "Put down the chalkboard paint!"

Bringing Fall to Maui

I love living on Maui but when October rolls around I get very homesick. This Colorado girls misses the change of seasons, leaves falling to the ground and crisp air hitting my face. I love it all. Have you ever seen that movie Ground Hog Day? The one with Bill Murray. He gets stuck in a town and wakes up to the same thing everyday. Well that sums up the weather in Maui. Its pretty much the same weather everyday. Beautiful! I am not complaining. I love it. I just get homesick this time of year. So since the outside really isn't fall I bring "fall" inside. Its always a challenge in the fall and winter to decorate my home cause I have more of a beach cottage feel in my house. Pine cones and corn husk really don't mesh well with my beach theme if you know what I mean. But I love to take risk and love a challenge. This year I had a lot of fun! I brought alot of bright orange in. It really goes good with all the blue in my home and its a nice combo.

This is a pallet shelf my husband and sweet kids made me for mothers day. One night laying in bed I showed my husband a picture I found at amandacarverdesigns.com . Amanda made a shelf out of a pallet. I loved it! Such a brilliant idea. She kept hers the original color but my family painted mine white to match are house. They are already little designers. I stumbled upon the wreath at the36thavenue.com and FELL IN LOVE! So I tried to recreate it. I was pleased with the way it turned out. I found 99 cent florescent colored pumpkins at walmart and spray painted them with chalk board paint. My daughter made the orange button Y this past weekend ( burlap, old frame, glue gun, buttons and a staple gun). I though she did a fantastic job. The hay looking things are actually dried up sugar cane. I was driving down the road by my house the other day and thought it looked like hay. So I stopped and cut some down. I couldn't find any hay looking things for a reasonable price so had to improvise. I was so happy the way it turned out. I just love it.

Here's an up close picture of the wreath. A whole tutorial on how to make it is on their website. These are the very first fabric rosettes I have ever made. They are not the best and don't look to close or you will see lots of glue residue:). They were really fun and easy once you get the hang of it. I don't think I am there yet but with some practice one day.