Chalkboard Engagement Party Art

About a month ago I discovered Dana Tanamachi. If you haven't heard of her, click on the link now!  She does absolutely amazing things with chalk.  Unlike many of my projects, when I saw her work I didn't immediately think, "I can do that!" but I did think "If I can make something that looks even a quarter as good as what she does, I'll be happy." :)

My dearest friend (since we were five!) is getting married this year and we had a little engagement get together this weekend.  I was in charge of decor, so I decided to use my newfound inspiration to create a piece of art.  I took this quote right from one of Dana's pieces, but I designed it differently using a combination of her techniques.

I started with a 2'x3' piece of mdf (from the same board I bought for my dog stencil art) that I painted with chalkboard paint.  I cut out a stencil for the border using tag board so I didn't have to go crazy trying to freehand it!  I sketched the whole thing out beforehand, so I used that as a guide for the writing.  The writing was tricky, not just the spacing and sizing of letters, but the actual process, because I was trying not to erase things as I worked.  Therefore, I was perched on my kitchen island, hovering over the board in some pretty precarious positions!  Great ab workout though!

I think I might be in a chalk art phase now!  Such an inexpensive way to make a big impact!

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Teagan's Travels

   

Chronicles of a Big Girl Room: Pottery Barn Kids Inspired Art

I love the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.  I like to pore over each page in search of inspiration for my girls' rooms and playroom.  Occasionally I'll buy things, but there are times I think, "I can do that!"  Have you seen these $199 lovelies?

(via)

Since Camille's room is dress (princess if you ask her) themed, I immediately wanted to create a piece of art that reflected that.  Enter Photoshop Elements! 

This is the one that's hanging in her room right now, but I also ordered one in lighter colors.  We'll see which one makes the final cut after more elements of her room are in place!

To create this, I opened a 16x20 file in Elements.  I played around with fonts and colors for awhile until I had the text the way I liked it.  I wanted a cute dress as the graphic, but was having a hard time finding one I liked for free, so I ended up buying some digital clip art from this etsy shop.  I had it printed at Costco- 16x20 prints are $5.99!  The frame was tricky.  I wanted to buy it at Target because they were having a sale.  Unfortunately, the 16x20 frames only came in black.  Nothing a little spray paint can't fix! 

I love how it turned out, but more importantly, Camille loves it too!  She thinks her room is actually going to be a boutique though... we'll have to discuss the concept a little more. :) 

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Big Clipboard to Chalkboard

Here's a little before and after of the big clipboard on my mantel.  It started as a well loved artist's clipboard from Goodwill.  There were actually two of them when I bought it and now I'm mad that I didn't buy them both!  At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with the first one though, so it seemed silly to have two.  It was in the garage for awhile being used as a dust pan, so you can see that it's come a long way.

 

The makeover consisted of a good scrubbing and a few coats of chalkboard paint. Pretty simple! I love that I can use it for chalk art, or to display photos, kid art or other fun decor.  

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Not a Spring Mantel

I've always been so envious of other people's nicely decorated mantels.  Up until now we've always had a tv on top of our mantel, therefore no space to decorate!  I was actually still bummed when we moved and once again put our tv on the mantel, until I realized there are two mantels in this house!  I finally got around to decorating the one in the basement, although it's not necessarily springy.  I'm just excited to have it look fairly nice and put together, so we'll see if I get around to changing it up!

Here's the info on each element (I've been looking for an excuse to do this!):

1. Birch tree painting by me.  It's been hanging out in the garage waiting for a home.  2. Old clipboard from Goodwill painted with chalkboard paint and decorated.  I love that I can change it anytime! 3. Wood pedestal from Southern Living at Home.  4. Jute Sphere borrowed from my upstairs display (I need to make a few more!). 5. Skeleton key made using techniques from my Button Initials and my Aluminum Foil Letters. 6. Clock from wuslu.com.  7. Sticks in a metal bucket/vase also from wuslu.com.  It was originally black, but I painted it with some Old White ASCP.

I think that now that I've actually decorated a mantel, I might be able to change it up once in awhile.  I do love the look of seasonal decor!







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Our Bubba

According to the American Kennel Club, the Bulldog is equable and resolute, dignified and courageous. And then there's our Bubba; Gus really, or actually Augustus, named for the character Augustus McCrae in Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.  If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.  It's amazing. I won't write a review, but check out this site if you want to know more.

It's not that Gus isn't those things, it's just that I wouldn't necessarily choose those particular adjectives to describe him. :)  Although, of those, courage really isn't his strong suit.  Gus is afraid of many, many things, including vacuum cleaners, garbage cans, shopping bags, or anything you might be holding that's unfamiliar.  He is, however, stubborn and predictable, lovable and sweet.

Gus came into our lives right before we were married, and was our first baby.  He went to puppy kindergarten, doggy daycare, was my walking partner, and had birthday parties!  His role in our family has changed a lot since we've had actual children, but as he's grown up, he's adapted well. 

Bulldogs are listed in the bottom ten of the smartest dog breeds, which means that in a study they needed to hear commands 80-100 times before they obeyed them 25% of the time.  I wouldn't necessarily call him dumb though.  He has us pretty well trained to do whatever he wants! 

While Gus drives me crazy by barking at the most inopportune times (naptime!), shedding all over the house, eating anything smallish that lands on the floor (binkies, puzzle pieces, sippy cups, wallets), and jumping on our guests, he's also sweet, cuddly, and attentive.  He sits on our laps as soon as there's an opportunity and adores being scratched, pet or brushed.  He responds to tears with a compassionate head tilt and a consoling nuzzle.  He's a favorite at the vet; each time we visit the doctors and techs can't get enough of him.  He's definitely a quirky guy, but he's our Bubba.

I wanted some large scale art for our office and thought Gus would be the perfect subject!  I've been looking forward to finally using some navy blue in my decorating, and the slate grey/blue office is the perfect space for it (this photo is in the dining room- the office has no space for photos right now!).  This piece is painted onto a 3ft. x 3ft. piece of 3/4in. mdf.  I started with some white interior flat paint as a base and used a navy blue craft paint for the design.  To sketch Gus, I started with this photo:

This is Gus' expression when you're holding food in one hand while you take a picture with the other. Actually, this is his expression anytime there's food involved. :)

Using Photoshop Elements, I traced around Gus using the magnetic lasso tool and then filled the background in with a light color.  I used the stamp effect to create a stencil look.  

I drew small grid marks on the mdf board at 4 inch increments and turned on the grid in Elements.  Each 1 inch square on my picture in Elements was a 4 inch square on my board, if that makes sense.  I was able to use the grid to draw the picture of Gus.  It made it so much easier to draw such a large scale picture.  Once the main outlines were down in pencil, I painted over them with the blue paint and erased the pencil marks. 

 I can't wait to put this in the office!  It will be nice to start getting that room put together!

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Teagan's Travels
   

Monogrammed Doormat

Part of the reason I love DIY is because I can personalize my decor.  When it came time to buy a doormat for our front door, I really wanted one with our last initial.  Of course Pottery Barn sells them for $60, but I thought, how hard can it be??  I found many tutorials online, but I liked the look of this one from Random Thoughts of a Supermom. 

This project was pre-Silhouette, so to make the stencil I printed a W onto card stock and cut it out.  I taped the stencil to the corner of the doormat, and used black acrylic paint and a stencil paint brush to dab the paint on.  The doormat was from World Market.  Here it is with my spring wreath.

I love the simplicity of it.  These photos show the doormat after 6 months of use, so you can see that it looks as good as new! Because our porch is covered, the doormat hasn't gotten wet, and placing the monogram off center also helps keep shoes from wearing it away.   I think spray paint would be a good option if you needed it to be more weatherproof. 

Personalized decor is the best, and it's even better when you can do it yourself!




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