Crafty day today

Today, while the kiddos were playing in the sprinkler (be jealous my New England readers!), I decided I needed to be crafty. I just had to make something. I've been like that a lot lately, and I think it might have a lot to do with my new obsession with pinterest. But that's a different blog post. I was thinking about things, and I've decided that I'm going to start posting the things that I have actually made from my pinterest endeavors. There are a few things that I have made already, for example a braided rag rug (which I still have to finish sewing together), peanut butter chip bananas (pretty tasty), some fabric flowers and some headbands. You're not missing too much yet. Is there something you saw on pinterest that you want to make, but aren't sure how it's going to turn out? Not really sure how to do it? Lemme know, we can figure it out together.

My goal now is to make everything that I pin....eventually. If I'm not actually going to make it, then why pin it right? It's pretty easy to get carried away with it all. And if I'm going to make it, might as well share the process with you. Whether the process works, or not. At least I can save you from making some of the mistakes I've made...for example, the time I tried to make my own paper mache glue....I pretty sure the glue was not suppose to be as think and nasty as it turned out. Moving on.

While thinking about what I could make with what I had, I found an old picture frame. I've been wanting to make a white board out of a picture frame, but didn't really want to go to walmart and buy a new frame and I hadn't had time to go to the thrift store to check out what they had so I considered this to be a lucky find!

The first thing you have to do is take the glass out of the frame. After taking out the back and the glass, I realized that I might have damaged the frame structure a little. But nothing a little wood glue can't fix. No biggie. I pulled out my new favorite thing, paint samples I got at Lowes for less then $3.00 a piece. Sometimes you can get lucky and get a great color on the "oops" paint, but if you're looking for a particular color, they can mix up a sample for you. I've found that this is the perfect size for crafting projects.

I went with the new summer colors from Valspar, Filoli Antique Lace and Twilight Meadow. Something fresh and bright. After you take the glass and the frame apart, you paint them. The frame is simple enough to paint. Just make sure to do a few thin coats so it goes on evenly. The pane of glass on the other hand....I think because we were outside and it was so hot that it caused the paint to dry unevenly. Or it could be that I tried to be cheap and use a really cheap paint brush. In hindsight, I wish I had a foam roller. I bet that would have done it better. You live, you learn.

So it's now painted. Make sure everything is even and coated. Pick your pane of glass and check the back side. Can you see anything through it? If you can, and you have OCD like me, make sure you touch it up. I went ahead and brought the glass inside to dry after touching it up, in hopes that the cool air would help it dry better. It definitely helped. Once everything is dried, you are going to very carefully put your glass back into the frame. Make sure that the painted side is on the inside. Be careful when putting the cardboard and back on the frame that you don't chip your paint job, because it will very easily scrape off the glass. You want the smooth side of the glass to be showing because that's what you are going to be writing on.

And now you're finished. Unless you 're like me and broke the frame during the process and now have to glue it back together. Then you're not finished. But it was close enough to take a picture and for you to get the idea. You're very own white board. You can use this for everyday use in your house, or as a neat alternative to the chalkboard photo booth that people are using in weddings. No one wants chalk dust on their fancy clothes!! It's a super simple project that can be done in less than an afternoon and to whatever color combo you fancy. Happy crafting everyone!