Magnetic Chalkboard

I had a big, empty wall in my kitchen, and my kitchen needed some character.  So, what better to add in the kitchen than a giant magnetic chalkboard.

First, I taped off where I wanted the chalkboard to be.  I used a small foam roller (for smooth finish) to apply Rustoleum Magnetic Primer.  This primer is pretty expensive ($20 for a quart), but I only used about half of the can for my board.  I did have to use about 7-8 coats to get the magnetic strength that I wanted. [Also, this primer is not latex - so it is NOT easy to wash off.]

This is what the primer looked like after 2 coats.

This is what it looked like after about 6 coats, and magnets were finally sticking.

After what seemed like a million coats of the magnetic primer, the magnets were finally sticking.  I then applied three coats of Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint.  I used the same kind of foam roller for the chalkboard paint too. [Chalkboard paint is latex and is very easy to clean.]

After letting the chalkboard paint dry for 3 days, I prepared the chalkboard surface by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk all over the board and then erasing. [If you do not prepare the surface, your first drawing will stay on the board forever (supposedly).]

Then, we added a border to the chalkboard using wall/window moulding.  We used a miter box and saw to cut the moulding at 45 degrees.  We nailed the moulding into the wall with finishing nails and caulked all of the corners.

Voila!

 

Kitchen Upgrades

We are finally done with all of the upgrades to our kitchen, or at least the upgrades that we can afford right now.

1. We changed out the hardware on all of the kitchen cabinets.  The kitchen cabinets had dark brass handles and hinges.  They were very loud and antique looking with almost a floral pattern on them. They had to go.  We replaced the hinges with white hinges, so that they blended in with the white cabinets.  We replaced the door handles with a simple brushed nickel handle and added brushed nickel cup pulls to the drawers.

2. I added a magnetic chalkboard on the previously big, empty wall.  You can read a detailed post about the chalkboard here.

What else would you put on a giant chalkboard except the Alabama football schedule?

3. I made some cafe curtains for the window in the kitchen.  Can I sew? NOPE.  Can I use stitch-whitchery? Yeppers.

Notice the framed art?  "I love you more than college football Saturdays." Our house is very football themed right now.

4. I upgraded some barstools that were given to us by recovering the seats with the same fabric as the curtains.

5. We built that island.  You can read the detailed post about our island here.

We Built an Island

Ever since we moved into our house in May, I have wanted to add an island to our kitchen.  Our kitchen had a very open floorplan, and we wanted to add some cabinet/drawer space and some seating. So we built an island.

We started with some unfinished stock cabinets that we bought at Lowe's. One single cabinet and one double cabinet.

The sides of the cabinets were not finished - they were made of a cork-like material.  So we used beadboard paneling to finish off the sides.

We covered the three sides with the beadboard and caulked around the seams (more on caulking later).

We also decided that we wanted to add a bookshelf on the outside end to give the island some character and a customized look.  We actually had some 1x10s laying around the shed, so we constructed some shelves.  We placed a scrap piece of  2x4 vertically under the bottom shelf to keep it up off the floor.

Next, we placed baseboard moulding around the bottom of the three sides and corner moulding down the four corners.  We also added a piece of decorative moulding to cover the seam between the cabinet and the bookshelf boards. Then, we caulked everything - and I mean everything (make sure to use paintable caulk).  We caulked around all of the baseboard moulding, corner moulding pieces, and all of the bookshelf boards.

Then, it was time to prime and paint.  I used two coats of Kilz primer.  The beadboard was already primed, so I really just primed the front of the cabinets/drawers, the bookshelf, and the moulding.  I used two coats of Valspar paint, waiting the recommended amount of time between each coat.  The recommended full cure time was 7 days, so we waited 7 days before putting the doors and drawers back on.

close up of the different mouldings

decorative moulding between cabinet and shelves

For the countertop, we used a 3/4 inch thick piece of oak.  We measured it to hang over 1 inch on 3 of the sides and 12 inches overhang for the bar side.  We used a bowl to mark the curved corners of the top, and used a jigsaw to cut it.  I used two coats of stain and two coats of polyurethane.  The cabinets came with braces with screw holes to attach the countertop with.  We used wood screws to attach the top, making sure that the screws did not go all the way through.  

We also added some decorative support braces under the countertop.

Last, we added some door handles and drawer cup pulls, and finally we were finished!!

This was a very long project that we worked on for over a month.  There was an unfinished island with no countertop in the middle of our kitchen for a very long time.  But I am very happy with the result!

My Home's in Alabama

We recently had to buy a jigsaw for another project that we are working on (post to come).  This jigsaw has opened up so many possibilities for me - things that I have been wanting to make, but haven't had a chance.

Well, our sweet friends Matt and Kimberlee are moving to Canada next week.  I wanted to make them something for their new Canadian house that would remind them of home.  So this is what I made for them:

I used this website to print out the shape of the state.  The site lets you choose how big you want to print the state (it also has countries and world maps and stuff too - it is a great resource). http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm

I traced the shape of Alabama onto a thin piece of plywood from Home Depot, and then Jeff (and Taylor too, I think) cut out the state with the jigsaw.  I sanded the wood lightly, just to get a smooth finish.  I painted the whole thing white.  Then, I created a chevron stencil from some cardstock, by first measuring out some squares, and then drawing diagonal lines to make the zig-zag.  I then taped the chevron stripes that I wanted to remain white and painted over the whole thing with a "crimson" color that I attempted to mix.  To give it a little bit of a more rustic and muted look, I used a dry brush with just a tiny bit of white paint to make the subtle white brushstrokes.  I bought the heart shape from Hobby Lobby, painted it grey, and hot glued it to where Tuscaloosa is on the map.

Kimberlee says that she will hot glue some ribbon to the back and make a cute bow so that she can hang it on the wall.  She will be way better at making the bow/hanger than me anyway.  (You can check out her blog, awesome sewing skills, and Canadian adventures here: http://tobefranklin.blogspot.com/)

Have fun in Canada, Franklin's!  We will miss you!

If anyone is interested in purchasing a state door hanger, a country door hanger (perfect for international adoptions, missions, etc.), Christmas door hanger, or any other holidays - email me or let me know!  I will be glad to make one for you or for you to give as gifts!

China Cabinet Makeover

I have been looking for a piece of furniture for our dining room for a while now because our handmade table was just so lonely in there.  So when I saw this (potential) beauty on a resale website for $40, I immediately left the house to go pick it up.

I loved all of the detail and edges in the doors and moulding at the top - I knew that it would look great with some of my favorite antiquing glaze.

Step 1: Prepare the piece - take the doors off, remove the hardware, and tape around the glass.

Step 2: Sand everything to help the primer stick.

Step 3: PRIME.  I did some research on what to use because the cabinet was not solid wood, and this was my first time painting laminate furniture.  I had heard great things about Kilz primer, so I decided to use it and some foam rollers and brushes.

This was also my first time using Kilz, and now that my project is over, I can say that I am completely satisfied with this product and will probably continue to use it for future projects. However, I feel like someone should tell you this, since no one told me: Kilz does not smooth out easily and does not create a pretty finish.  This is what my cabinet looked like after one coat of Kilz:

I was really worried that I had done something wrong, but now I am pretty sure that this is just the way that Kilz works.  Maybe it would have looked better if I had done a second coat of primer, but I chose not to.  If I had been painting a dresser or something that I knew would receive a lot of wear and tear, then I probably would have used a second coat.  But let's be honest, china cabinets are mainly for looks and don't get opened and closed a lot - so I only used one coat.

Step 4: PAINT.  After letting the primer dry for 24 hours, I applied the first coat of paint.

If I had this to do over again, I don't think that I would have painted the inside of the cabinet.  It was really hard to paint the shelves without getting the paint on the glass, and I am not sure that all of that effort improved the look of the cabinet at all.  oh well.

Step 5: After 24 hours, I applied another coat of paint to the outside of the cabinet - I figured one coat was good enough for the inside.

Step 6: GLAZE! After another 24 hours, it was time for my favorite part: antique glazing!  This is my favorite product:

This glaze last forever!  I have had this one bottle for over a year and used it on at least 4 different projects.  The instructions say to wipe the glaze on with a damp cloth in a circular motion - this NEVER works for me.  So here are my instructions:  

(1) Use a dry brush to apply a thin coat of the glaze.  Make sure to get the glaze in all of the crevices and details.

(2) Use a damp cloth to wipe off the glaze.  I usually only leave the glaze on there or about 5 minutes before I wipe it off.  It is supposed to be workable for up to 15 minutes.  The longer you let the glaze sit, the more it sticks.  The wetter your cloth is, the more it wipes off.  This step is usually trial and error.  If you wipe too much off and there isn't enough glaze, you can always brush more on.
                                          
Here is the side by side of the ornament on the top before and after wiping off the glaze:

The glaze dries pretty fast, so after I finished all of the pieces and doors, it was time to reassemble.  I decided to line the back of the china cabinet with fabric, and I chose some light blue chevron material.

Here is the finished china cabinet:

Our Home ... in its current state

Some friends and out-of-town family have requested pictures of our house.  So here it is:

The Living Room

 The Piano Room:

The Foyer:

The Dining Room:

The china cabinet on the left in currently in the process of being painted.  I will post pictures when it's done!

Spare Bedroom (Coral Room):

I still have a few projects to do in this room.  I am going to paint the bedside table and an armoire.

Happy 1st Birthday, Riggins!

July 16, 2013, was Riggins 1st birthday!  And I decided to bake him a dog-birthday cake.  Y'all, this is sort of a big deal because I am not a chef, and I kind of hate to cook - just ask Jeff.  But, it was Rigs's special day, and he'll eat anything, so I decided to go for it.

I found a recipe for his cake here: http://dogs.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Dog_Birthday_Cake_Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 jar of beef baby food
• 3 eggs
• some bacon bits*
•  couple scoops peanut butter*
• one block of cream cheese

*Notice how my measurements for these are real precise - NOT.  I was real careful with what I put in the actual cake part because I didn't want to make the poor dog sick.  But as far as the bacon bits, I just poured some into the batter.  I did make sure to get the "pieces of real bacon" bits and not those stupid imposter crunchy things.  As for the peanut butter and cream cheese for the icing, I just mixed some together.  To dogs, and most people, peanut butter + anything = goodness, so I didn't figure that Riggins would be particular about the cream cheese to peanut butter ratio.

Directions:

1. Mix flour and baking powder together.
2. Cream together the butter, oil, baby food, and eggs.
3. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet mix, and then add the bacon bits.
4. Pour into a 8" baking pan.  (I used a 9" round one, and it worked fine.)
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  (Oven times may vary.)
6. Mix the cream cheese and peanut butter.  (I used a hand mixer.)
7. Let the cake cool completely and then spread on the icing.

That's a pretty good looking dog-cake, if I do say so myself.

Then, it was time for Riggins "party" ... okay, so it was just the people living at my house and one of our friends, but it was a party to Rigs.  I gave Riggins some new toys that I bought for him, and then it was CAKE TIME!  We decided to give him the cake outside - mainly so that the pictures would be better, but also so he wouldn't make a mess in the house.

Let's be honest, somewhere deep inside, I was slightly worried that even my dog wouldn't like my cooking, But HE LOVED IT!  He immediately started licking all of the icing off, partly because that is the best part, but mainly because he doesn't have hands to pick it up and eat it with.  So Jeff helped him.  He bit into the cake and then gobbled it up super fast.

All gone!

I'd say that it was a successful 1st birthday for this handsome Dane.  

Happy Birthday, Riggins!  I hope you have many many many more!!

Me and the Birthday Boy - he wasn't to sure about that hat

Some recent crafts...

For a long time now, I have been wanting to make a cute map so that Jeff and I can pin all of the places that we travel together.  And this week, I finally got around to it.

I printed a big map of the Good Ol' U.S. of A. from this website that I found on Pinterest: http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm.  You can print maps off as big as 8 pages x 8 pages.  I chose to print mine off at 3 pages x 3 pages.

I cut out the map and taped the pieces together to make a stencil.  I used a roll of cork from Hobby Lobby that cost me $8.99 thanks to their 40% off coupon.  I traced the map and cut out the USA.  The cork had been rolled up, so I left some coasters and things on the map overnight to flatten the edges out.

I currently have a collection of large frames, mirrors, etc. that I have picked up at thrift stores and yard sales along the way.  But, my map was too large to fit in any frame that I had.  But I did have an old corkboard from Wal-Mart or something that was the perfect size.  You know, one that looks all plain like this:

I also had some extra burlap from my wedding laying around.  So, I recovered the corkboard with the burlap, just stapling the burlap to the back of the board.  I used spray adhesive to glue on the map and added a couple banners and ended up with this:

Hopefully we'll get to add a few more locations soon!

I also had an ugly, gold, scratched-up oval frame laying around and decided to finally do something with it too.  I spray painted it white and added some Valspar antiquing glaze.  I also used burlap for the background of this project too.  I got a wooden "H" at a local Home Accents store and ...

I am so excited that the house is finally coming together, and I am finally doing something with all of these random frames that I have bought over the past year.