My $4 Chalkboard Project

 

I've been so inspired by all of the chalkboard projects out in blogland.  A couple of weeks ago I found a frame at a garage sale for $3.  It was kind of beat up looking, which was perfect for me.  :)

 

My husband cut a piece of hardboard to fit inside.  I painted the white side of it with Rust-oleum Chalk Board Paint.  The can was $10 at Home Depot

 I put three coats on it, letting it dry completely between coats.  I used a foam roller and alternated directions with each coat.  I probably used 1/10 of the can for this 18x22 piece.

I spray painted the frame with a Flat White paint from Valspar.  It then sat in the garage for 10 days while we were on vacation.  This helped as it was easy to sand down later.

I sanded it down with these:

And here's the finished product. (with my very elementary artistic abilities shown!) 

Since I had just about everything on hand, I figure I spent $4 on it--$3 for the frame and $1 on the amount of chalkboard paint I used out of the can.  

(I found that a damp micro-fiber cloth cleans it perfectly.)

Thanks for visiting!

Pam

I am linking to the following parties: 

My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday

Hand Me Downs from Friends are the Best

In my last blog post, I wrote about visiting a friend in the Palm Springs area last week.  I've known her since I was nine years old, so I guess our friendship is almost considered 'antique'.  :)

She moved into a new house and had some things that either didn't work in the house or she was just tired of.  Well, I was very happy to be the lucky recipient of her generosity!

I collect old scales and was so happy to get this one!

She told me that this was the first decorative item she purchased from Pottery Barn many, many years ago.  I love all of the details of it, especially that it's painted in my favorite color blue and has chicken wire on the door.

These miniatures are right up my alley--birdhouses, apothecary jars, crocks, flower seeds and an old cash register.  I'm going to see if it's possible to add lights to the inside of this so everything shows up even better when the door is closed.

This cast iron horse door stop is definitely a fave!

 I love this old frame she gave me.  I put my baby bird picture in it and have it hung right over my computer so I can look at it often.

 Here's the bird cloche that I won a few weeks ago from Martina at Northern Nesting.    A fun thing happened regarding the cloche.  When we were shopping in Palm Desert, we found the same cloche at the store there.  My friend ended up buying one for herself.  Now we both have them in our homes to enjoy. 

I copied the lavender in the peat pot from Becky at Junk to Joy.  What an fun project!  Thank you Martina and Becky!

Thank you so much for visiting!

Pam 


I am linking to the following parties:

Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesdays

Back from our Palm Springs Vacation

We just got back from a great trip to the Palm Springs area.  We have a dear friend who just moved there and we were so excited to see her new house!  She is an amazing decorator and even though she's only been in the new house a short time, it's already beautiful!

A very fun part of her new house is the guest casita.  Our daughter stayed in the guest room in the main house and my husband and I got the casita.  Talk about a nice vacation!  Besides being beautiful, it was so private and so well equipped.  We had a brand new luxurious bed, our own kitchen area and bathroom.  

 

Right outside our casita was this beautiful birdcage.  

 

There were several seating areas, an outdoor kitchen, fire pit area and  chaise lounges near the pool.

They just had a gorgeous salt water pool, spa and waterfall installed.  We spent countless hours just floating around in there.  We would shop in the mornings, go to lunch, come home and lay on floaties in the pool, then either have a bbq there or go to Happy Hour for dinner and drinks, then back to the pool before bed each night.  It was the perfect vacation!

This is a den right when you walk in the house.  It is so pretty.

 She has an incredible collection of antique apothecary jars. I love the shells in them.

This is the family room.  Everything in her house is so pretty, yet so cozy and comfortable.

I love her style!

I will do another post on some of the things we bought during our shopping expeditions as well as some of the treasures she gave me that she wasn't using in this house.  

Thanks so much for visiting!

Pam

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The Front Yard in Bloom

I love gardening and would do it everyday if I could.  Unfortunately, for about six or seven months out of the year, it's not possible.  When my flowers are blooming, I am in heaven!  :)  I planted the perennials  last year and am happy with the way everything is filling in.

This is the area along my driveway.  There are coneflowers, daylilies, daisies, cosmos, lavender, lamb's ear, snapdragons and artemesia in here.

 This area has cosmos, rose of sharon, coreopsis,  and cranesbill.

 The bees love the coneflowers and lavender.

We've had very hot weather and some very windy days, so I'm counting my blessings that everything is blooming as well as it is. 

Thanks so much for coming by!  

Pam

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