Tutorial:Chalkboard Valentines with Sweet Book Page Ruffles

Trends of '09
-Chalkboards
-Text & old books
-Ruffles

Check! Check! Check! Got them all into my valentines for Sarah's Sweetheart Swap! I actually did this shortly after New Years in anticipation of a busy Valentines season and it's been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. I had to share it with you all today!

Here's how I made them:

Supplies:
 2" squares of old book.
plain cardboard
chalkboard paint
chalk
ribbon scrap
heart shaped cookie cutter
hot glue gun
pinking scissors
pen

I had tons of these 2" squares leftover from this project. Goodness knows I couldn't just throw all those little bits of perfectly aged text away! I also had a great cardboard box to recycle. My heart cookie cutter was about 4" wide.

First paint the cardboard with the chalkboard paint and allow it to dry. Then cut out two hearts.

Next roll those squares around a pen and secure with a dot of hot glue. Dot. Dot. Not a lot! (Sorry! Couldn't resist a little teacher talk.) It takes nearly 30 rolls to really cover one heart.



Really jam them in tight.


Then glue a second layer to fill in the gaps at the curves and the point.

Next, glue your ribbon bit to the second heart and load that baby up with hot glue.


Now, carefully feel for the points and the curves on the back and sandwich the two layers together. This is a bit tricky.

Trim around as evenly as possible with the pinking scissors. This part was is not a perfect science. One side looked better than the other.

Rub chalk all over both sides and wipe off. This will give it that great chalkboard patina.

Write your Valentine a message. Something short and sweet.
This might be my favorite Valentine yet!
Valentine '09
Valentine '08

I have been thinking of making one that is wreath size.

If you make these, please send me a link or a picture! I'd love to see what you do with this idea.
Linking to:
DIY Day
Trash to Treasure @ Reinvented

I Painted My Crock Pot!

I see a Crock-Pot and I want it painted black.



No late 80's pastels I want them to turn black.


I wanna see it painted, painted, painted painted black! Yeah!

Yup! I took the plunge and painted it with chalkboard paint. Inspired by two comments from this post:

Anonymous from Seattle, WA said...

"I wonder if you could try paining it with black chalk board paint - You could then write on the pot what is cooking inside it! "

And Holly Lynne said...
"You're a master with the spray paint so if anyone could do it you could. My first thought, however, would be to sew a cozy for it instead."

I figured if the chalkboard paint didn't work, I could always make a cozy and cover it up. Sort of a back up plan.

Meanwhile, back at the craft show I met my new favorite craft tool.


Those paint pyramids caught my eyes, but when I saw the whole picture, a crafting lazy Susan- it was love at first sight.

Seriously, is there anyone out there that needs this more than me? My balcony is a scant few feet wide and I have already shared the contortions I endure to work in such a small space.

This baby was made for me.

I told Michael Bucci (the president of K&M) about my balcony workshop and he gave me my very own Craft-n-Spin!

Hot Dog!

Of course I couldn't wait to get out there on the balcony to christen my newest toy.  The Craft-N-Spin is terrific!


I taped up the handles,rim, cord and dial of the Crock-Pot. I used a paper plate to cover both top and bottom. I decided to spray paint it upside down. That way the rim and the inside were better protected. I placed an old plastic tray on the Craft-n-Spin. This way the pyramids wouldn't poke through the paper plate.

I sprayed the whole thing sitting at a distance. The Craft -n-Spin gently rotating the pot. Nice and even. No awkward bending. No hair getting in the project. No upside down painting. So easy!
I am so excited to have this! And, while it's called the Craft -n-Spin for this application, the next time you see me painting a dresser or play kitchen- I will refer to it as the wood workers "finishing turntable." So much more pro. Don't you think? 

The next day I used a foam roller and painted the pot right side up with the roll on chalkboard paint.
That can of chalkboard paint has lasted me through half a dozen projects now-including my big fridge. I know the spray paint is easier, but the can sure is a good value!

Anyway, three days later I was able to "prime" it with chalk and get to writing!

Is there anything that can't be improved with some chalkboard paint?

Hmmm....George, I'm looking at you!

Back to the Craft-n-Spin- here is a video...





Thank you so much Michael Bucci for the Craft-N-Spin!

Linking up to: Trash to Treasure Tuesday & DIY Day!
Nester's Chalkboard Party!

DIY: Punny Valentines for My Pupils

Family Fun Magazine has the best ideas! This month two ideas for Valentines grabbed my attention. The Google Eye Valentines and the scratch off Valentines.



Since both ideas were stellar, I decided to combine them and do both.

I took a close up picture and edited it in Picnic. In Picnic I added a Valentines boarder and "sticker" with text. The text on the heart has pun filled messages such as "Eye think your great!" Puns are so great for my English language learners.  Then I had the photos printed at Walgreens. Next, I covered the heart "sticker" with clear contact paper and silver metalic craft paint mixed with a dab of soap. The easiest part was adding the google eyes. I got these great stick on google eyes at Michaels. They came in assorted sizes which just makes everything even sillier.

"Eye" think they will be a hit with my pupils.

Meanwhile, I am trying to think up other scratch off projects for them. Maybe review boards where they make up questions and answers. After laminating the pages, they could paint the answers with the metallic paint. Once dry they could trade papers to review and "scratch off" to check answers.

I don't know, that might be too much work. I just know that scratch off would be very fun and motivating. If you happen to think of any other ideas for "scratch off" leave them in the comments.

Other projects inspired by Family Fun Magazine:
Paper mache eggs & ornaments
Watercolor portraits

Have a great day!

I am linking this to DIY Day!
and Try & Tell.

Obama Picture Contest Winner

Yelena is the winner! (I just put all the various "bead" guesses in a hat and drew one.)
The giant Obama picture at the Crafts Convention was made of those Perler Beads.

Here is a detailed shot of the lapel pin.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Click on this to read all about it. It was up for the highest bid at the convention. There weren't any bids when I saw it. I think this kind of thing belongs in his future presidential library. The Reagan Library has all sorts of cool things school kids and crafters the world over made for him.



This is another project using the same beads on display at the convention. Kids love to make things with those beads, but I have never known what to do with the finished project. They just seem to be these fragile bits that hang around until they break. Framing them in a shadow box is a really cute idea.

Yelena, I'll be sending you those magazines soon!

Check This Out- Easy Border

This is my minister's living room. He (Dave) and his wife (Becky) amazingly creative people. Becky was thinking about painting something over that window. Before investing time and energy into painting, she stuck some paper napkins from Target up there just to see how it would look. It looks amazing. Maybe you're looking for a pop of color or some sort of temporary artwork. Try paper napkins!

A few other things:

By the way, I am having so much fun looking at everyone's guesses for yesterdays giant Obama picture contest. I will pick a winner Monday night 2-1.

I did paint the crock-pot! Tune in later this week for the reveal.

Also, I have more prizes and goodies from the Craft Convention.

Hope you have a great week!

Fun *Little* Contest!

This is not a political post! Fret not! (Frankly, I am totally disgusted by political discourse on both sides right now.) What this is, is a huge craft project made by kids!



This huge picture was on display at the Crafts Convention last weekend. It was made by thousands of fourth graders from around the country. (My class did not participate. Somehow we missed out on this in the Crayonbox  and that is just sad!)

You know I have a real soft spot for fourth graders and cool craft projects. So, I thought I would have a little contest. Can you guess what this is made of? That's the contest. Just guess what the big presidential picture is made of.


I picked up a bunch of craft magazines including Crafts'n things and Pack 'O Fun. My students are loving the copy of Pack 'O Fun I got for them. What a cool magazine for kids! I will send the winner a package of crafty magazines. If there are several correct guessers, I will randomly select the winner.

So what do you think? Go ahead and click on the picture to see it larger. I was right there and couldn't believe it. 

On another note, I never did hear from the winner of the Citra-Solv contest. She has a private profile. So, if you have a private profile, please leave an email with your comment. And, I guess I will draw another winner for the Citra-Solv.  Updated: After picking several other private profile people with the random number generator, I finally picked cneaglefan to be the winner because she left her email right in the comment!

Gifted

Cute overload huh? This was made by one of my students at a birthday party and I am the lucky recipient. Everything about this bun just kills me. The tongue, the green bow, the foam heart- I love all of it. Most of all the generosity. My students have so little and yet have such jumbo sized hearts.