Message Board Project

So I have been wanting to make something like this for awhile but haven't found the time or the frame to do it.  After constantly checking the clearance frames at Hobby Lobby (and even making some stops at the Good Will) I finally found a frame I was ok with and was within the price range I wanted.  I got this frame at Hobby Lobby for......(pause for effect)......$13 for the 2 foot by 3 foot frame!  The original price was $130 and it was an ugly gold color, but the price was right and it was nothing a little spray paint couldn't fix. 

So with a few weeks left in this pregnancy I thought it was about time I get my butt into gear and get this thing done before baby #2 comes.  This just goes to prove that an 8 month pregnant lady can still get down and do some prey painting, even if it was in LOTS of stages, with plenty of breaks, and outside on a windy day just to make sure I have plenty of ventilation (and plenty of room for the mess). 

So, here it is, the finished message board.

We've got the cork board on the bottom, the chalk board and dry erase section, the weekly menu planning section, and the monthly calendar, grocery list pad, and storage areas last.  So, the hope is that this will help us stay organized, especially with the weekly menu thing.  No more of the nightly dreaded question "What's for dinner?", now we will know exactly what we are cooking, but it will hopefully help us with the grocery shopping as well so we know exactly what to buy.

The bottom portion with the cork board, chalk board, and dry erase board.

The top half with menu planning, monthly calendar, grocery list, and storage.

The menu and the containers that hold all the menu options.  The weekly thing is a magnetic dry erase board I got at Target.  I did modify it because it was a bit too thick for what I wanted so I ended up taking it all apart...with my husband asking me every 5 minutes if I needed help because he didn't want his 8 months pregnant wife to cut herself on the metal.

Close up of the weekly menu.  I got some magnetic printer paper from Office Depot and printed all the options on it, which took awhile because my printer didn't want to feed it in, but I got it all done.  We have green for main dishes, orange for side dishes, blue for bread, rice, and potatoes dishes, and brown for desserts.  I know, this is starting to sound a little OCD, but hey, I may not be the most organized person in the world but I like some things to be nice, neat, and organized. 

The top part with the monthly calendar, a pad of paper for the grocery list (which I got from Michaels craft store for $1, so I got 2 of them), and extra storage space for whatever else we need to have up there.  All the bins I made myself out of scrap chipboard I had and covered them with paper.  I used one sheet of 1/4" foam core board to put everything on, except the cork board which was already 1/4" thick, and then backed the entire thing with another sheet of 1/4" thick foam core board.  Once it was all in the frame, this is going to sound cheap but, I used packing tape and just taped it all in the frame, but it works.  Now all that's left is to have my hubby hang it up on the wall for me.

BIG News!!

So I have some really BIG news to share.  I got accepted into my FIRST juried craft show!!!!!  I have been accepted in the Handmade Promenade show on May 6^th!  I know, I know, that is the weekend after the Encore Consignment sale!  Wow…I’m going to be doubly busy the next few weeks.  At least I have a week between shows so I can whip up whatever products I need to for the second one because they sold unbelievably well at the consignment sale….right?....I guess I can dream…and hope that will happen.  I guess I can’t complain because I need to make MORE product right?  So this will be a new experience for me, one that I am very much looking forward to.  I feel excited and scared and overwhelmed and a whole bunch of other emotions all at the same time!!  I’m going to be going crazy by the end of the month I think.  This show in Indy will be my first where I have to set up EVERYTHING….from the canopy to the table to my products (because it’s my first outdoor show too!!)  I’m hoping that with me new network of crafting friends that I will be able to hear about many more craft shows and be able to apply to them.  So here’s hoping that all goes well and I sell lots of books!

Christmas Gift Sneak Peak

I have been hard at work this month making some Christmas gifts.  I haven’t blogged about them because I don’t want people receiving said gifts to find out about them early.  That being said, since I KNOW my mom doesn’t read my blog (for lack of internet access) I don’t mind posting what I just finished making her.

** WARNING** For those of you reading this and are going to be with my family for Christmas…your gifts are not in this blog posting…so you will still be surprised when you open your gift.  J

So for my mom this year I decided to take the family photo we just took earlier this month at our family Thanksgiving/Christmas/ Birthday weekend get together, and make a nice wall hanging.  So here is what it looks like finished.

Really all it took to make was a stretched canvas, scrapbook paper, and some foam core board.  I covered the stretched canvas in scrapbook paper, cut my foam core board to the length I wanted and covered that in scrapbook paper, made a what I like to call a “frame pocket” to hold the photo (this way the photo can be changed out), and there you have it…a nice wall hanging with the latest family photo.  There were a few stumbling points, like last night when I did the glued the red paper to the stretched canvas I had MANY doubts that this project would even turn out as nice as I was hoping because of all those stupid wrinkles in the paper after gluing.  But after sitting all night paper side down I think some of the wrinkles worked their way out….or maybe it just looked better to me this morning since I hadn’t been staring at it for hours.  Either way…it turned out pretty well I’s say. Oh, and I will have to say that hand cutting out the lettering was a pain...would have been much faster if I had a Cricuit cutting machine (maybe I will get one for Christmas  :).

And since my side of the family has already done Christmas I can now post what I made my brother’s family for their “family gift”.  I have been wanting to make an advent calendar for the last few months now and finally got around to doing it.  I made this one completely from scratch. 

I used chipboard to make the frame and the grid (note to self, next time don’t glue the grid, I’ll explain later), cereal boxes for all the cube inserts, and then scrapbook paper and accessories to decorate it all.  Now, I say NOT to glue the grid down because I found that even though I made a template for the grid pieces so they would all be the same size and cut the same way, and even though I made another template so all the little boxes would be the same size, because I glued the grid down (not square mind you) not all the boxes fit in every spot (some of them were kind of a snug fit).  Kind of annoying, at least to me.  But I think they will be fine once they are pulled out and pushed in a few times.  And one more note, I would say Hersey kisses would be the perfect candy for this because I used bigger pieces of candy and when you have to put 4 in a box….that advent calendar gets HEAVY.  So I hope my brother and his family are enjoying their new, custom advent calendar….made with lots of love.  J

More Christmas gifts will come later...after Christmas when everyone has gotten them.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season!!

3-D Snowflakes

Leave it to me to start a blog right before the busiest time of the year.  I have been so busy trying to get Christmas gifts made and school done with for the year that I really haven't had time to blog about anything...plus with some of the things being gifts, I can't really blog about them and run the risk of the receiver read the blog about their own gift.  So…I will try to take pictures of the things I have made and do one big post featuring all of them.

Any who, today I went to BloomingMoms and it was a craft workshop day.  So today I learned how to make a 3-D snowflake!!  I thought they were so cool and stopped at Joanns on the way home to get glue dots to make more at home.  I didn’t take any pictures while I was making mine but I did find a tutorial (click here) to show you how they are made.  One thing I did differently than this tutorial is I used glue dots for EVERYTHING.  I did NOT use any tape or staples. Here are some pictures of the ones I made.

 These really are easy to make and would be great for kids to make and hang.  I hung mine above our counter between the kitchen and living room and I LOVE them. 

Till next time,  Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!!