Custom Chalkboard Paint

Did I miss something?? Have I been living under a rock? I have been dying to chalkboard paint something but have not found the right project to use it for. So I was just blog hopping around while working in my cube on this beautiful Saturday and I have seen all of these colorful chalkboard walls. Not just the plain green or black (don't get me wrong, I love the black!). So I started stalking around in Google to see how these people are getting colorful chalkboard paint. And you will never guess! Or maybe you will because I have missed the boat. Martha Stewart....good ol' Martha...has a recipe for custom chalkboard paint! You can see if from the Horse's mouth here. This is the gist of it:

Get 1 cup of flat paint...any color that you want. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded grout. Mix well and break up the clumps. Paint it on the wall in thick even coats. Let it dry and then sand it with 150-grit sandpaper. And then you just wipe it with chalk like you do the normal stuff. How awesome is that?!?! I can assure you that you will see this in my girl room when its done. This is such a great idea! And we have most of a gallon of delicious chocolate brown paint that we used for tiny half bath. Guys, I can't wait to show you this basement. Its phenomenal. Really.

One of the blogs that I have been oodling over today where I saw this was Liz at Bon Temps beignet. (click her name to visit her blog. Its amazing!) She did this in her entryway. I LOVE it!

 And here is Martha's chalkboard calendar wall. I love it!

Oh the possibilities! I will let you guys know how it goes!!!

Getting ready for Spring!

So...I grabbed this little treasure at Goodwill who knows how long ago and it has been tucked away in our hall closet waiting to become pretty. I only remember that it cost $1 because the tag was still on it.

Yeah, it was kinda ugly. Those old nasty flowers in it were gross. So I jerked them out. Which turned out to be easier than I had thought it would be. Here's what I had. (I left the old foam in...no sense in buying new!)

I had an almost used up can of Krylon spray paint in the basement so i whipped that bad boy out and gave it a few coats. love love love it!

The other reason that I had not done anything with this yet was because I really wanted pretty spring flowers but I was NOT about to pay $10 for fake flowers, I don't care how pretty. So yesterday I was in Michael's and they had these really pretty little clusters 50% off. A total of $3 for them all! And its exactly the colors I have been wanting. Green hydrangeas and pinkish peonies...I love it!

So I shoved really hard and got the little bunch down into the surprisingly good old foam. They fit perfectly!

Now for how to get it on the front door. We have a wreath hook (which I could not locate...I am sure its buried with the Christmas stuff in the basement.) But I am pretty sure that it would have hung this little guy smack in front of our pretty door knocker. Luckily, we had a command hook in the basement! So I stuck that sucker on just below the knocker.

I hung the little arrangement on and there you have it! I beautiful, spring-ready door! 

The flowers smush just a little when I close the door. But I am okay with that! :)

 

 

This is really exciting. For the first time in my life I planted bulbs this winter. White tulips and hot pink parrot tulips in memory of my Grandma Tucker (Parrot tulips were one of her favorites). The shoots are finally appearing! I can't wait until they bloom! I will kill the deer if they eat them...

Now off to help hubby work on the basement! :) Oh yeah...did I mention it was in the 70s here today?! On my day off! Hallelujah!!!

I am sure by now you are getting a little impatient...

I know!! You are going to abandon me! Or something...I hope not because I love you guys that read this! I really could post basement pictures now trust me I am dying to....but we are so close to done. And I REALLY want to put them on here as one giant reveal. It really looks so much better than I could have imagined. The tile is laid in the bathroom and laundry room now! We just have to let it set and grout it. I really hope that I can show you all my "girl room" at least sometime this week. Obviously it will not be fully accessorized, etc. but you can see how adorable it is! I can't wait!

I am SO ready for Spring!

So...today has been one of those days. I have felt positively terrible for about a week now. Yesterday I felt so bad that I left work early. Did not sleep much at all last night. Overslept this morning. Just one of those days. And its been cold and rainy. So I decided that since I had never shared the outside of our home with you all really, I would post some pictures from this summer when we first moved in. Looking at these has made me so happy and excited to use our amazing outdoor space. I can't wait!

Please, ignore our overstuffed trash can :) We had just moved in!

I love this tree. I planted some tulip bulbs in that bed for the spring. I can't wait to see them!

Sweet wind chimes on the carport. They are so relaxing. We also have a porch swing out there but it is not in the pictures. I need to get one with it! We love that spot. :) It faces right toward the sunset!

This is the view from the carport onto our detached deck. We now have a fancy grill on that deck that I got hubby for his Birthday. I will get pictures of that too!

And here is the view from the other side of our deck (coming out of the walk-out basement). I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to a full summer of spending time out here. Seriously, we have talked about camping out here. And cookouts! Eeek! I need summer NOW!

Well, that has made me feel much more cheerful. Other cheerful news, we are almost done downstairs!!!! The guys are working on my "wife-cave" as we speak!!! I can't wait to share it with you!

Sorry to disappoint!

So..sorry I have been gone most of this week! It was kind of nice to take a little break. I had intentions of posting basement updates tonight (because its looking fan-freaking-tastic!) but my hubby wanted me to wait and do one big reveal when its done. But let me tell you.. I LOVE it!

Our den is so warm and cozy. We have a large portion of the flooring down (just waiting for quarter-round to finish it off), paint on the walls and some of the trim down. It really looks amazing. I can't get over it. And my husband is allowing me to have a "girl cave" in the spare room down there. We painted it Tiffany blue. I can't even stand how happy is makes me! I can't wait to share it with you guys!!!

Jute Vase

This is going to be short and sweet! My sister-in-law's birthday was a couple of days ago and I really wanted to make her a gift. So I got a lovely vase, a ball of twine and some hot glue sticks. I took all of the above to work with me and while I was on the phone I created this!

Please excuse the junk in the BG. and the awful flourescent lighting. and the image quality. I took the pics with my blackberry. Hope you enjoy!

Told you it would be short!

BUSY Week! Let's Have a Party!

Hi, friends! I am so sorry I have not been around this week! Hubby and I have been working very hard (and until late into the night) on our basement! Its coming along really well! We have all of the drywall up…almost all of the mudding and sanding done …and probably half of the priming done. Hopefully we will be finishing up this week and can start flooring this weekend/next week!

Anyway, at this point I am useful down there. I have not been through much of the construction since I have no idea what I am doing. But I can paint with the best of them! (Oh yeah! I also learned in my fitness magazine that 1 hour of painting burns 300 calories!!!) So paint I will!

So, because that I am now able to devote hours to helping with the basement and with everything else that I have going on (class, dishes, laundry, stationery orders, etc.) I have found very little time for blogging this week! I PROMISE that I will have a full basement update with pictures for you this weekend! (it looks SO GOOD!)

In the meantime…I would LOVE to feature some of you beautiful ladies with your awesome ideas! If you are interested, just email me the html for your post at ohhbabydesigns(at)gmail(dot)com and I will try and schedule as many of you as I possibly can! I will accept posts now through Friday! This will be super fun! Ready….GO! J