DIY Chalkboard and magnetic furniture and walls.

You have to check out this link...this Mom has posted an awesome tutorial on making your own chalkboard paint and different ideas on how to use it. You can purchase commercial chalkboard paint but it is way expensive. You can now get a few fun colors, but when you make your own you could paint a whole room any color, if you wanted. The link shows a table, but she has other pages for her chalkboard and Magnetic wall in her living room....totally awesome especially if you have kids.

copy and paste this

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHygBWf6CRatSlGPLzgu5QGvw9puE2B5-o88yBVhDAyu9wXJJSpirgOuGF13iLqGldNgQL9xFUWatzo0c5H9myQW-eaDYQ-rhGbD8xXkQRg2boKVrN_5uJy3iQlShIieN0YAyj9xHzvD4/s1600-h/017.JPG

Chinese Auction Follow - Up

Well the Ladies came last Night and we had alot of fun...Everyone was blessed and some were Chinese Auction newbies. I realized I didn't clarify in my earlier post the items I was putting up were clutter to me because they weren't being used and appreciated, but they were all (26 of them) hand painted items from my vast collection. Senior Saint Helen won both the 2 big pieces...you go Helen, I'm not sure where she will fit them in her little apartment but enjoy. We had alot of laughs as some people coveted certain items and tried to steer others from putting there tickets in...haha...(Lizzy znd Tori...the younger generation of woman). We continued the night with watching Amazing Grace, a wonderful movie.....the story of William Wilberforce who felt the burden from God to work tirelessly for the abolition of Slavery in the British Empire.

Chinese Auction

OK...I'll admit I have NOOO idea why it is called a Chinese Auction. But if you have never been to one, basically rather than bidding on things, you buy tickets and put them in drawings for whatever items you want. Well tonight I am having a "Ladies Night Out" with the ladies from my church, and I decided to have a mini Chinese Auction with the proceeds going to our Woman's ministry. I saw this as a way to bless people as well as get rid of some on my clutter. I put a few bigger pieces in, as well alot of small pieces. Amazingly I am finally parting with some of the pieces I painted as a student rather than as a teacher. They've been sitting around for 10 years, it's time they were enjoyed.

I really feel Art is meant to be enjoyed....Its not really art when its not.....my 17 year old neighbor Victoria helped me set it up last night...hopefully everyone will be blessed :)

Christmas is Coming!!

I know, I know, It's not even Labor Day....but it's coming. We are sliding into the end of the year/ oops end of summer and before you know it we will be on the fast track to Christmas. So why do I leave all my Christmas Crafting until the last minute. Crazy I guess. So I am telling myself , not this year!! Get started!!

Summer fun for Kids

Just thought I'd share some ideas to have fun with your children during the "Dog days" of August. The Humidity is so thick here in NY today when I woke up I could see my windows were wet on the outside.

Bubblepalooza making your own Bubbles
Making it yourself is great if your child has dye sensitivities or allergies

This is a trial and error recipe. Your water, humidity, etc can effect how the bubbles turn out where you live. Start with this:

1/2c Joy or Dawn Dish Liquid
1 c water
1T light Karo Syrup (thickener-optional/can try sugar too)
1 drop food coloring - optional

Put the water in your container first. Add corn syrup and stir. Add Dish liquid and stir gently. Always put the water in first and stir gently or you will end up with way too many bubbles.

If it doesn't seem to work well with your local water, try using distilled water.
If the bubbles burst too easily- too much water
If they fall too easy (heavy) - too little water

Use a wand you have, or create one with a pipe cleaner. HAVE FUN!!

The BEST Play Dough

This from Craft Gossip blog, I was going to Post the link, But there website and my blog wouldn't play nice. I chose it because its the only one I've seen that doesn't have an odd ingredient you probably don't have in your kitchen, and no real cooking, just heating water. Imagine burning a glob of flour and water and getting that out of your saucepan...Not

Ingredients:
1/4 cup salt
1 1/4 cup flour (amount of flour may vary slightly depending on altitude)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 T vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
food coloring

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside

Boil water in microwave. Remove from microwave once it has started to boil (I realize you guys aren’t idiots, I just wanted to be clear). Add baking soda, vegetable oil and food coloring to water. I am generous with the food coloring. I like the colors to be dark. Let the water cool down enough that you can touch it. If you don’t let it cool, your play dough will end up grainy-believe me.

Add the water mixture to the flour and salt combination. Stir/knead adding more flour as needed until it isn’t sticking to your hands anymore. Let the dough cool completely. Play time!

Store in Tupperware or be eco friendly and store in old cottage cheese/sour cream containers. Lasts longer in refrigerator.

Note: I'm not sure how much this recipe makes, but if you wanted to make more than one color, other recipes have suggested waiting until the end and kneading it in. Pat the play dough flat , put drops of food coloring in the middle, fold it over so coloring doesn't ooze allover and begin kneading.

WHAT TO DO!

We all go through periods where we need to spend less and use what we have. We talk alot about reduce, recycle, reuse, yet it can start in out own home. I mentioned in mt previous post.."Paint what you have"...I have so much stuff I am always inspired by , I buy it yet I don't always get to it. I need to go shopping and get inspired again in my own craft room.

I was talking to a friend and young mom the other day (2oo minutes long distance to be exact, Lauren from 4babyandmom.blogspot.com) and we were talking about cutting back when finances get tight. I told her my #1 rule over the years when I feel I've been spending too much is just stay out of the stores. If you are not in them, you will not spend $$. Gas Station, Food Store, that's it. Is Walmart really cheaper for paper towels and toilet paper when I walk in to spend $20 and walk out having spent $100? Well Janie at Janiegettingoutofdebt blog has the same rule and came up with this list of ideas that I thought I would share. Ideas for recreation rather than shopping.

1. Taking a walk outside.

2. Checking a book out from the library.

3. Reading a book outside on a beautiful day.

4. Reading my favorite blogs.

5. Taking pictures of family and friends.

6. Taking a nice long bath and pretending I am at an elegant spa.

7. Playing with my dog outside.

8. Snuggling with my boyfriend (now husband) or a stuffed animal.

9. Talking to my best friend.

10. Writing an email or letter to keep in touch with a friend or family member.

11. Listen to music on my ipod.

12. Bake cookies, brownies, anything sweet!

13. Volunteer in the community and at church.

14. Pray.

15. Go to church.

16. Make a list of everything I am grateful for.

17. Blow bubbles outside.

18. Swing on a swing set at a playground.

19. Plant flowers in a garden.

20. Dream.

21. Do something artistic.

22. Keep a daily journal of thoughts and experiences.

23. Use my imagination.

24. Watch TV or videos on YouTube.

25. Watch America's Funniest Home Videos.

26. Take a walk along the beach or a lake.

27. Go for a run outside.

28. Google funny words and see what is returned from the search engine.

29. Play with Google Earth and dream of vacations that I could go on around the world.

30. Read anything about travel. I just love to travel the world and see new things but I had to do it from my computer back then!

Showing off your Crafts and Art work...

I am just getting back to normal life (if life is ever normal..hahaha) since saying goodbye to a houseguest. A friend of mine sent me an awesome virtual scrapbook page of her and her children she created on Scrapblog.com. Free too, isn't that great. Besides the obvious scrapbooking applications I thought this could be a great way to showcase your projects, for presentation or if you want to sell them.

Along the same vein, I was thinking about other tools I have used to show my friends and family my photos and projects.

Picturetrail.com I have had an account with them for years. I don't use it for my personal photos but for my artwork and professional porfolio. It is free to start, but if you want more space it is $20 a year. Start with the free get your feet wet and see if you like it. I like the ability to arrange my photos in albums, you can play around with the page formatting a little, people can look at things in a slide show, you can add a paypal button if you want to sell things, and its your page, not belonging to a photo printer website where they might delete if you don't buy something. You can direct people directly to the page or link to it through any other website you have.

Lastly I will mention wesites like Shutterfly.com and Snapfish.com For those of you who like the idea of scrapbooking, but don't see it happening in the near future...trying creating your own book. If you sign up for coupons you will get discounts. Last September I received a coupon for a free book from Shutterfly.com. FREE?? I am biting the bait. I had pictures from a recent Oregon trip just waiting to be put together. This was an 8x8 book, I put 1,2,or 3 pics on each page, 20 pages, wrote a dialog like a travel journal...and it came out AWESOME!! I Love, love, love it. I recommend it to families to do once a year, organize your life, and it is so easy to pull out and show people, and FUN! If you try it you won't be sorry, well worth it even if it costs you something.

too much stuff!! Paint what you have !!

ahhh..what to do with too much stuff. It clutters my house as well as my mind. I was prepping for 2 classes, one Monday, one Tuesday...was on a roll began reorganizing my Art room on wednesday. And while knee deep in my project forgot an important meeting...I mean totally forgot. How embarrassing is it to say. "I forgot"

Have come to the realization I need to put myself on a surface buying moratorium until I just paint what I have.. I also need to get rid of some of the craft stuff i don't use. I get inspired to string the occasional bead project, but you never do use all those beads..you get the idea.

So a little everyday, so I can get to painting. :)