Vintage-Inspired Chalkboard Art: Christmas Mantle

 Before you go out and spend $$$ on a trendy (but-oh-so-beautiful) Christmas decor item for your mantle...WAIT!!  Here's a fast and easy DIY crafty project that can update your mantle in less than an hour! I had a BLAST whipping this out last night (although the hubs thought I was crazy at first LOL!), and I thought I'd take a minute to explain how I did it to help and inspire you, too!

Okay, what you need is a chalkboard--I simply unscrewed the chalkboard off of my littlest one's easel (this one) and popped it right off--love the fact that it already had the holes I needed for hanging!

Next, using this chalkboard printable for inspiration, I used white chalk to draw the sentiment onto the board (skinny side for most of the letters--wide side for "COME"). Then I added a bit of washable Crayola red paint over the "COME" letters.  Last, I outlined all the white cursive letters with a chalkboard marker to really make them POP.  Above you will see an up-close picture of the chalkboard--feel free to click on the image to see it larger and in greater detail!

  

To hang, I simply knotted a burlap ribbon through the holes in either corner of the chalkboard and strung it up on a removable Command hook.  Then, I added a wire-on prefab chevron burlap bow I snagged off of my fall wreath (bought at Michael's).

Here's the final look of the mantle, complete with a curtain rod which came out of my basement to hold the stockings--love that I can slide them down to add more when family comes into town for Christmas morning! 

I hope you enjoyed this Pinterest-inspired and FREE Christmas mantle update using your kids' craft items!  It was fun to put together and will be fun to enjoy all season long!

Menu Planner Board

I am bound and determined to get the meal planning situation under better control in our house!  I have organized my pantry, linen closets, laundry room, and have saved the hardest thing for me for last!  Thanks to my sister's encouragement, adorable supplies at Michael's, and some great inspiration on Pinterest, I was able to dive in and get something on my kitchen wall to help with the weekly meals today!

Here's the board I came up with inspired from this website here:

For the actual board, I found this adorable framed denim chalkboard at Michaels (50% off!!) and hot-glued decorative clothes pins (dollar bin section) and an office clip magnet on the chalkboard surface.  Then I stamped the first letter of the day of the week in black ink using a keyboard font stamp from my stash and then punched it out with a 3/4 " round punch.  These I hot-glued to the clothes pins.  Then I stamped "the good stuff" stamp in black ink on the frame and distressed the denim and white frame using Desert Sand ink (CTMH) and white paint.  I added the words "yum" and "done" with a black Sharpie on the denim pockets.  The rope hanger was already on the frame and up it went on my kitchen wall facing my pantry!

For the meals ideas, I cut 1" x 3 1/2" colored cardstock strips and wrote our favorite meal items on each strip with a Sharpie or chalkboard marker.  I tried to keep it color-coded to ensure some variety during the week. (white--pasta; gray--meatless; tan--chicken; black--seafood; brown--beef/pork).  I might add crock pot or soups on another color later.  I plan to place our favorite meal strips in the left-hand denim pocket ("yum") and then when we are finished with the meal ideas for the week, place them in the right-hand denim pocket ("done") to prevent frequent repeats.  I also plan to clip up the week's recipes if I need them for reference, as well.

I will check back in a bit to let you know how this system really works out for us!  I must say, it makes me feel a bit better about things already :)

Summer Boredom

Here's a fun way to beat the boredom this summer!  Found the chalkboard sign at Michael's and just used a chalk marker and chalk to write out the words!

Thought this would be a helpful reminder for the kids as they make their way downstairs to come find me in the basement (where I will be crafting!).  Let's hope it works now that homeschool is out!

Inspiration found here: http://becky.iliftheavythings.com/2013/06/its-coming-im-bored.html