The Pinterest Report: DIY Chalk Paint

Hello!

Whew. What a crazy couple of weeks! I was in a craft show last week. I’m trying to move away from baby items into repurposing furniture. I have more fun playing around with furniture, and I really don’t have any more space in my house to keep the items I’ve fixed up. It was a ton of fun to find new homes for the different pieces I had collected.

When I thought about painting furniture for the show, I decided I needed to try this new chalk paint thing that is so popular. You may have heard of Anne Sloan’s chalk paint. It’s “miracle” paint in the sense that it doesn’t require sanding or priming before using and distresses easily.

Now, if you look at buying some Anne Sloan’s paint, you better be prepared to pull your chin off the floor. It’s around $30.00 for a quart. Say, what?!? I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty penny to avoid sanding. I had thought about springing for the paint on one project, but then I saw this Pin on Pinterest, and alas, it was time to DIY chalk paint!

So, how well does the DIY recipe with Plaster of Paris work? It was every bit a “miracle” paint solution I thought it would be. Granted I couldn’t help myself from sanding. It just seemed so wrong not to. So I did a light sanding. My blue and aqua covered pretty well. I only needed 2 or 3 coats to cover a dark brown. The yellow wasn’t quite as good and required 4 coats (but it should be noted that the paint itself was a lower quality than the paint I used on the other two). One of my pieces had previously been painted yellow, so when I distressed the piece it let through a bit of the yellow. I thought that effect was pretty cool. The coat was pretty durable. I felt like it took some real elbow grease to distress.

I will definitely be using this recipe again. I just had to use some left over paint and a little bit of plaster of paris. Very cheap (like $1.00 a paint job cheap). And, if you have this month’s HGTV magazine, you can get a free 1 cup sample of Vaspar’s spring collection paint. Perfect for mixing up this recipe. Then you’re looking at an even cheaper solution! 

The paint all mixed up. I found two things 1) if you use press and seal wrap, the paint doesn't dry out over night (a reported problem with DIY recipes), and 2) while you're supposed to use a foam brush, you should plan on having a few on hand. The paint is pretty heavy and can do a real number on a foam brush.

The paint drying on my desk turned headboard. Pretty smooth finish and it dries very quickly. (Headboard is still available for purchase)

My four pieces drying (sorry for cell phone blurry picture!). Yes I'm painting inside and yes, the smell wasn't too bad. But why was I painting inside in May?

Because this was my view outside! Surprise May snow storm! My poor magnolia tree took a beating.

Finished drawer turned end table (that's a bit of mod podge inside with some fun fabric. This item is still available for purchase!

 Desk turned message board with a bit of distressing. (This item is sold as well)

 

 My favorite piece (and already sold piece). It was the writing portion of the desk you pull out. It was previously yellow, so the distressing pulled out a bit of the yellow. I tried the distressing method where you use a bit of sand paper on edges and steel wool on the main part.

 

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A Little Yard Work

Prior to the surprise May snow storm, I decided to get outside and clean out the old mulch and leaves. It was quite a bit of work, but the new mulch look so much cleaner. Unfortunately most my flowers did not survive the May storm. Boo. Oh well. I'll plant more in a few weeks!

Before: 

I had a little helper. She even got her own set of garden gloves with princesses on them. Her new routine is to walk on the pavers while singing the ABC's.

After: 

 

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The Pinterest Report: Growing Lettuce from Scraps

Hello!

I should preference this Pinterest Report this that I am no green thumb. I'm proud I can even grow tulips (that pretty much grow themselves). I do have an Orchid that hasn't died yet, so I suppose that's something.

I saw this pin about growing lettuce from the left over scraps of a head of romaine lettuce.

So I thought I would give it a try. Can't be too hard. Put scrap in water and ta da, lettuce! I was a bit skeptical about if it would work. I was proven quite wrong.

Here is the lettuce after only a few days:

Here's my lettuce after a week and half. Pretty good! I have changed the water once. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. Do I move it to dirt? Can it go outside this time of year? The posts I read were a bit sketchy about what happens from here. But I suppose I can just buy another head and start over if it doesn't work.

 

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Cool Unexpected Project

Happy Friday!

One of my husband's friends was kind enough to watch our daughter while my husband got some new tires. (Auto Shops and a 2 year old don't tend to mix well) We were quite grateful that he agreed to help, but he also did this project with our daughter! He cut out her name and let her paint it. It was a very cool way to spend an afternoon.

It just so happens his wife is quite crafty as well and is blogging about crafts and being a working mom and a vet school widow (something I can also attest to!). Check it out here.

 

 

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The Pinterest Report: Work-out Ideas

Hello!


I have two projects I did off Pinterest.


Mostly success stories, but with a few modifications.

First is this pin regarding exercises on popsicle sticks.

So the pin is the idea that you put all the exercises you want to do on popsicle sticks. I think the idea is pretty solid. I never remember those exercises on Pinterest I see, so this is a good way to remember and work towards a goal.


One thing I found is 1) I sometimes didn't know what the heck the exercise was, and 2) the marker would bleed everywhere.


So, my modification to this Pin is to 1) put on the back a hint on what the exercise. (I know what a side luge is but I might not know what a glute kickback is), and 2) use a fine tip marker or pin instead of the average sharpie. I also added what exercise set the exercise came from in case I wanted to just do one work-out.

Also, I used a fun painted widemouth mason jar. May as well make it pretty too.

The second Pin was the "Workout Tip Jar." Everytime you exercise you put money into the jar so you have modivation to exercise.

I found this mildly motivating. I have been following it, and I do think to myself if I'm trying to wiggle out of a run, that it's one less dollar towards something fun. I made this project pretty too with some mod podge and fabric on a glass jar. I'll eventually jazz up the label if I'm bored.

 

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DIY Sunday: New Machine & Project

Hello!

What a busy couple of days! I am still working very hard at work, but I finally got some fruits of that labor today. A couple of months ago my sewing machine broke down. It was my second machine in 3 years, so I decided it was time to get an upgrade and stop messing around with cheap machines from big box retailers. I headed over to my local quilt shop (Quilting Connection in Ames, IA). I got a beautiful Viking Machine. (To be more specific, I got the HiClass 100Q) Now getting a better machine not only means I've gotten something built better, but I've also got a better warranty. Quilting Connection has free classes for people that purchase machines from them and they even have monthly sewing club meetings for people that have purchased a machine from them. On top of that, if I decide in the next year I want a bigger badder machine, they offer a trade-in of the full retail value for a new machine. Great benefits.

So, I did a quick project for my daughter. I had some fun popsicle fabric. We made (yes, she helped) a simple skirt for her.

On a side note, I got a new iPhone and first smartphone. (I know...probably one of the last people without one). So, now I am obsessed with Instagram. About 4 years too late)

 

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The Pinterest Report: Hair Tutorial Pins

I think anyone that has played around with Pinterest has probably a positive and a negative experience. Or maybe, just negative. We all remember my stepping stone atrocity that was featured on Craft Fail. I had a friend recently tell me that she wasn’t sure if any of the recipes she had tried were every even made by anyone else, because they tasted terrible. A couple of months ago, I had decided to start two Pinterest boards about my personal experiences. I have one “Tried & True: Pins that Work”  and “Yikes! Pins That Don’t Work.” I am happy to report that there are definitely more pins that work than don’t, but nonetheless, I thought I would share my experiences with you.

Some of the pins don’t bear repeating. You’ve seen all the Handmade Christmas gifts I made. Almost everything I made worked out great. I especially enjoyed the dinosaur tail and the fishing set.

However, I’ve tried some things outside of crafts that have worked great. Today I’m going to share two hair tutorials that are pretty much amazing. Both come from the same blog. I should preference this that I’m not that great with hair. I mean I don’t burn my hair off like this tutorial, but I’m not much more talented than that.

I initially discovered this blog when this pin was first pinned.

So, here is the pin picture:

 Picture from The Small Things Blog

And here’s my result:

Not too bad, huh? 

Next up is this pin about adding texture and curls to your hair:

Picture from The Smalls Things Blog

And here’s my result:

Now, I there are some frizz issues. I had a hairstylist many years ago tell me that when you’re adding texture into your hair, it might not be a bad idea to first comb it then add in your product to avoid frizz. Then avoid touching it as it dries. I found that also works, but you don’t get the same volume. So, at least with my hair, it’s one or the other. I'm glad I found this blog! It's been so helpful watching her videos.

 

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