How to Make a Chalkboard Surface Desk | Pretty Handy Girl

How to Make a Chalkboard Surface Desk | Pretty Handy Girl

As part of the makeover of my son’s bedroom, I wanted to create a fun chalkboard desk surface for him to write and build legos on. The idea of a chalkboard coated surface came to me when I remembered how much he liked the mini-chalkboard decals that used to be on his room wall.

Creating a chalkboard surface on any desk or flat surface couldn’t be easier with the right tools. Here’s how you can create your own chalkboard desk!

Materials:

  • 3M fine grit sanding block
  • Valspar High-Hiding Primer tinted gray
  • Rustoleum chalkboard paint
  • 2″ paint brush
  • Foam brush
  • Small craft paintbrush
  • Desk surface (I used pre-cut finish grade plywood)
  • ScotchBlue painter’s Tape
  • General Finishes Water-based sealer (or satin Minwax Polycrylic)

Instructions:

Begin by lightly sanding your desktop with the sanding block. Wipe any dust off with a damp rag.

Paint one coat of primer on your desktop surface. (A little note about my primer: I asked the Lowe’s paint department to tint it as dark as they could with black colorant. This helps when you are painting over the primer with a dark color.)

How to Make a Chalkboard Surface Desk | Pretty Handy Girl

After the primer has dried, create a border on your desktop with painter’s tape. Press the edges down firmly with your fingers. Paint one coat of chalkboard paint with the paint brush. Brush the paint in one direction. Let that layer dry. Repeat with a second coat brushing across the original strokes (i.e. vertical then horizontal.) Read more

Budget Friendly Gift Idea Pinnnable

With summer right around the corner, summertime barbecues and pool parties aren’t far behind! When a friend takes time to plan an event, Jacque and I always try to come up with a unique idea for a party gift to bring them as a thank you!  Since summertime tends to bring with it, a slew of parties, we decided to come up with a creative, inexpensive host or hostess gift.  As luck would have it, on a random trip through Home Goods, we found a nice set of glassware for $6. With a little help from our vinyl cutter we could create custom stencils and make these glasses the budget friendly gift idea we had been looking for!

Libbey-Glass

Tools:

  • Vinyl Cutter
  • Small Utility Knife
  • Small Paint Brush

Materials:

  • Glasses
  • Vinyl
  • Transfer Tape
  • Etching Creme

 

Instructions:

To begin, you’ll need to choose some artwork.  If you’re using a Silhouette or Cricut vinyl cutter, consider browsing their graphics libraries for ideas.  Or if you like what we came up with we’ve included our custom downloadable Relax stencil file (you’ll need a DropBox account to download the file, but the good news is that DropBox is free ;-).)

Sunshine Relax Artwork

Use your vinyl cutter to create your stencil.  (Since there are a number of different cutters available, I won’t get into the instructions for each machine.)

Once your artwork has been cut into the vinyl, remove all of the excess material and cut the artwork into individual stencils. Read more

Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 4

Best of #PrettyWaterlogueApril Week 4

I have to send everyone who participated in #PrettyWaterlogueApril a big thank you! Thanks for participating because you blew up my Instagram feed with gorgeous images everyday! I truly couldn’t wait to check the hashtag feed to see all the beautiful creations. I hope you will consider continuing the challenge in May and beyond. I won’t be able to officially showcase my favorites, but please know that I’ll be following along. In order to create a more “lasting” hashtag, I’ve decided to change the hashtag to #PrettyWaterlogueGallery. Feel free to post your favorite Waterlogue creations using that hashtag to share and continue to gain new followers! I can’t wait to see your newest artistic creations!

Once again, this week was truly a challenge. I had over 100 favorites and had to narrow it down to 20.

Here is my week four showcase: Read more

easy diy yardstick star

Hi there! It’s Melissa from The Happier Homemaker again and I’m excited to share a super easy little DIY decor project with you today!  A few weeks back I was at Lowe’s on a Saturday morning (isn’t that where we all are on the weekends?) While shopping around I saw a bucket of yardsticks in the paint section and had a stroke of inspiration to create this adorable little yardstick star for my mantel! This was one of my favorite types of projects (simple and inexpensive) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Materials

  • 3 wood yardsticks
  • Saw (I used a circular saw but almost any type will work)
  • Wood Glue
  • Stain

Instructions:

materials yardstick star

Use a saw to cut each of your yardsticks in half at the 18″ line. Set one segment aside so you have 5 total pieces to work with. Read more

#PrettyWaterlogueApril Best of Week 3

#PrettyWaterlogueApril Best of Week 3

Happy Easter!

Once again, you amazing Waterlogue artists have amazed me. And again, I was tasked with narrowing down my 100+ favorites this week to 20. Perhaps it is from Spring in the air or Easter, but I was definitely drawn to some seasonal beauties.

barbaracarrollaz_eggs

*Like these colored eggs by BarbaraCarollaz

Before we get to the showcase this week, I wanted to give you the details on the giveaway I have for you at the end of this month. Anyone who has participated in the challenge (whether you’ve been featured or not) will be eligible. I will chose one winner at random who will get to take home this fabulous prize pack:

#PrettyWaterlogueApril Prize Pack | Pretty Handy Girl

PictureFrames.com – $300 Gift Certificate

Picture frames galore! This one stop online framing shop has it all. Preview your image in their Personal Frame Shop so you can test drive the mat and frame of your choice. Or create your own framed chalkboard, bulletin board or mirror from their wall décor optionPictureFrames.com was generous enough to donate a $300 gift certificate so you can have your PrettyWaterlogueApril masterpiece(s) showcased in your home. Don’t feel obligated to choose one of your Waterlogue images, you could use the gift certificate however you want.  Why not frame that painting that you’ve wanted to frame but for whatever reason you never got around to it. I’ve used PictureFrames.com for many years and know you’re going to love their styles, service and products!

PersnicketyPrints – $50 Gift Certifcate

Persnickety Prints is your destination for printing your masterpieces! You can select your own digital paintings or photos to be printed for scrapbook prints, calendars, cards, photo booksgifts and much more. The print selections are amazing. From photographic prints, cardstock printing on up to artist quality giclée prints! Plus, you can import your entire Instagram gallery with the click of a button!  Founded by Chari Pack, this small business encompasses the customer friendly and attention to detail that you want when you upload your favorite images.  Persnickety Prints has graciously offered a $50 gift certificate to use at their online store. You’ll have so much fun browsing the options. Be sure to check out their easy Instagram printing for starters and then discover all the other ways you can bring your online Waterlogue masterpieces to life!

+ Continue to bring color into your life with a new Canon PIXMA MG3520 color printer and photo paper. This printer is perfect for your home and is easy to connect with wifi.

And now, the paintings I’ve chosen this week: Read more