DIY Mega Chalkboard - Part 1

When we bought our new house, I knew I had to add something to the big blank wall in the kitchen.  A quote wall with vinyl stickers?  Not really my thing.  A piece of art?  That's way too complicated of a decision for me to make.  A mega chalkboard that I can write quotes on, draw silly pictures, decorate for the different seasons, write lists for my sieve-like brain...umm, YES please!!

So I talked about it.  A lot.  I talked about it almost every day.  I drove my husband crazy.  "If you mention the chalkboard thing one more time..." he'd jokingly threaten.  The only problem I saw was that a 4' x 6' chalkboard wasn't going to fit into either of our cars and shipping a ready-made, expensive chalkboard that size would cost a small fortune!  "Let's make one ourselves!" I offered, excitedly.  We would have had to rent a truck from Home Depot for the supplies, or borrow someone's.  I gave up and stopped talking about it for a little while.

Husband sends me a text one day "I'm buying a truck."  My immediate response: "Great!  Now I can get my chalkboard!"

First stop in the new truck - Home Depot!  Here is our supplies list:

4' x 8' MDF board - $25.98 (We cut off 2' to make it a 4' x 6' board.)
White Primer - $3.87 (don't get spray primer)
Chalkboard Paint - FREE because the previous owner left some behind in the new house - thanks!
Molding rails for the frame  - $37.24
High density Foam roller - $5.97
Plastic Miter Box - $4.97
Miter Back Saw - $9.47

The nice Home Depot man cut two feet off the board.  Mini Girl will use the short piece to make a mini chalkboard for her room. Perfect!

We picked out molding for the frame. We just wanted something simple. 

Priming the boards. Just one coat of primer.  We let that dry overnight.

It was raining the next morning and I read somewhere that you shouldn't paint when the humidity is high. We waited until the afternoon when the air dried out.  The benefit of living in the desert - humidity doesn't last!

The little board got two coats, mine got three just because we had a little water droplet incident and it needed another coat after we dried it off.  We painted the edges as well but these pics don't show it.

Next up...attaching to the wall, and prepping for use. Stay tuned for Part 2!

DIY Mega Chalkboard - Part 2

And here it is!  The final results.  Click HERE to see Part 1.

The frame was a little tricky, to be honest.  In hindsight, it might have been better to attach the frame to the chalkboard BEFORE we attached the chalkboard to the wall.  But, well...we tend to figure these things out as we go.  

We used liquid nails around the edges and reinforced with real nails to attach it and seal it to the chalkboard.  We just painted white over the nail heads to hide them.

And now it's ready for use!!  Since I've never written on a chalkboard before, I thought it a good idea to purchase a guide for some tips and tricks.  

This book is bursting with inspiration for lettering, borders, drawings...wonderful stuff!!  You can purchase it on Amazon.

And there you have it...our first chalky session.  We're having lots of fun with our new mega chalkboard and hope to have some cool stuff to share with you in the future.  Hope you enjoyed this little project of ours.  If you've done a mega chalkboard in your house, let us know!  We'd love to see.  

Until next time...

Layered Mermaid Soaps

One of my fav soaps to make are "picture soaps".  They have cute little images embedded in them that wash away as you use the soap.  I've done so many different designs.  Even ones for my niece and nephew with their photos in them!  Here's a sneak peek at how I make them. 

Before we get started, I have to give a shout out to Peach Pops Clipart on Etsy for the gorgeous mermaid clipart I use in this project.  Their designs are so fun and cute!

Get all of your materials ready first.  This project is a little time sensitive in parts so you want to have everything at your finger tips.
  

I have cut out the little mermaids (printed on water soluble paper) to fit the size of the mold I'm going to use.  I don't want the edges of the paper to go all the way to the edge of the mold.  We want a nice "frame" around the edge of the paper so the soap seals the image in place.

Cut up your clear soap base.  I like to use small cubes...they melt faster.

Important: use your 50% power setting on your microwave.  It melts the soap more evenly and won't overheat it, but you still have to keep your eye on it.  Melt in 15-30 second increments to start with - you'll get a feel for timing the more you practice.  

It's good to have some soap chunks that aren't completely melted with the rest of the soap.  Just gently stir them in.  It will regulate the heat a little as well.  Don't stir too vigorously - you don't want to create air bubbles!  Spritz with alcohol if you do get some bubbles.  This will help them burst at the surface.

We're melted!  I've added a pinch of glitter to this first batch of clear soap.  I want there to be a cute little sparkle on the image.  Use alcohol to incorporate the glitter into the liquid and stir through any clumps.  It shouldn't clump if you haven't added too much glitter.  Just a pinch.  :)  Stir gently...remember, no bubbles!  We are not adding fragrance to this layer.  

Pour an ever-so thin layer in the bottom of your molds. I spritz with alcohol to help even out the soap.  You want the bottom to be covered but not thick.  We just want a nice, clear layer on top of our image.

When the first layer is solid, you can add your image.  Before you touch the paper to the soap...spritz, spritz, spritz the soap surface with alcohol.  You want it to be pretty wet.  Drop your image in.  If it doesn't sit how you want it to, if you've spritzed enough alcohol, you should be able to move it around.  Spritz it so there are no dry spots on the paper but don't let the paper start to buckle.  It should be laying flat on the soap.

STOP:  Some tutorials tell you to just add the next layer of white.  Don't do this!  Pour another very thin layer of soap onto the back of the image.  This will seal the image in and prevent any weird layering that might happen with your white backing soap.  Trust me on this.   

Get your white soap ready!  Small chunks.

Again, use 50% power and melt in 30 second bursts.  

When the white soap is melted, you can add your fragrance oil.  The amount will depend on how much soap you are using.  You can use this handy dandy fragrance calculator at Brambleberry.com.  P.S. Their fragrance oils are DIVINE, too!

Tip: If you're using a fragrance oil that has vanilla in it, you will need a vanilla stabilizer or your lovely white soap will go brown after a while.  Not pretty...unless you wanted brown soap.  :)

Now you're ready to pour the "back" of your soap.  I don't fill mine totally to the top as I've overflowed far too many times.  It gets messy and ugly and you waste soap.  :)  Spritz with alcohol to zap any bubbles that rise to the surface.

Now off you pop for a nice cup of tea while you wait for these babies to set.  Leave them for a good hour or more (will depend on your mold size - bigger molds take longer, obviously.).  When they are ready...pop them out, wrap in cling wrap or cello wrap and give to a friend.  They will love you for it!

This tutorial is the basic process of making a layered soap with an embedded image.  Let me know if you have questions - happy to help!