How to Make an Upcycled Sandwich Board

Ah the wonders of chalkboard paint!  You can turn just about any piece of trash into a work of art or something that is super useful with a few strokes of a brush.  Today, I'll show you my new sandwich board that I plan to use at craft fairs this Spring.

Lovely, eh?  Want to give one a whirl for yourself?  It would make a great chalkboard for a wee little one's playroom too.  To make yours, gather up the following supplies:

• Two kitchen cabinet doors of the same size. Habitat for Humanity's ReStore is a great source for these.
• Chalkboard paint (you can make your own if you don't have any laying around the house - or don't feel like giving your right arm and leg for it)
• A couple strips of fabric about an inch or two wide and 10" long.  I'm  using strips of denim from an old pair of jeans but you could use an old belt or anything that will keep the two doors from sliding all the way open
• 4 Nails or decorative brads
• 2 hinges (mine were still attached to the cabinets when I bought them)
• Screwdriver and screws to fit the hinges 

My doors from ReStore

Let's start by prepping and painting  those doors.

• Remove all the existing hardware and set it aside for later use
• Sand the doors down so that the existing paint or finish is no longer shiny.
• Prime both sides completely
• Paint the front and back.   If you plan to paint a border that is not chalkboard paint like mine, I suggest you do your painting opposite the way I did it.  So start by painting the back side and the border.  Then glaze with a protective glaze.  I really like this crystal clear enamel  protective glaze, it doesn't yellow like so many others.  THEN paint out your chalkboard area (do NOT spray with the glaze).  I did the chalkboard area first and then had to cover it so I didn't accidentally coat it with glaze.

Glaze all of the non-chalkboard areas

Let your doors cure for 24 hours, then start putting everything together.

• First line up your hinges on the back side of the doors where the top of the doors meet and mark the holes
• Drill small pilot holes on the spots you just marked
• Screw your hinges into place

I added a bit of purple paint to the bit of hinge that shows on the top

Now add a couple of strips of fabric with nails or decorative brads.  Once you've primed your chalkboard you (or the kids) are ready to draw all over it.

To prime your new chalkboard: Rub the side of a piece of chalk all over the board, make sure you cover it completely.  Erase it and you're chalkboard is now ready.

Monthly Eco Etsy Post: How to Make a Denim Bag

It's time again for my monthly Eco Etsy blog post.  Be sure to swing by and see how you can turn an ordinary pair of jeans into a fabulous little tote...oh yeah, it's super simple!  I think super simple is going to be my theme this year!

A Pet Pillow From Your Bathrobe

Are you one of those people who asks for a new bathrobe every year for Christmas?  I’m not, but my mother is.  She is seriously disappointed when one of us kids doesn’t get her one.   Sorry mom we were all sick of it this year!  At any rate, if you now have a slightly used robe that was replaced with a fuzzy new one this Christmas, don’t toss that old one!  They make super simple and fabulously cozy pet pillows.  I picked up several thrifted robes in an effort to coax the cats out of bed at night, placing several cozy alternatives all around the bedroom.

This is another one of those silly posts that really doesn’t warrant a full blown tutorial.  If you can sew three straight lines (heck they don’t even have to be straight, your pet doesn’t care…really) then you can make this pouf!  So, in a nutshell:

1.  Cut the bathrobe around the girth just under the armpits
2.  Turn the right sides together and sew the original robe opening shut
3. Now sew the remaining openings shut (two sides), with the exception of a few inches on one of the sides to enable you to stuff the pillow
4. Pull the right sides of the fabric out of the small opening so that the right sides are now facing out and over stuff that puppy!  Yes you’ll want to overstuff it because it’ll flatten pretty significantly in a couple of days’ time
5. Hand-stitch the small opening shut and voila!  El cheapo Upcycled pet pillow sure to keep ‘em warm and cozy all winter long.

I chose to keep the pockets intact on this pillow.  After sneaking some catnip into the pocket opening, this was the reaction from Angel and Destiny:

Green it up even more:  Be on the lookout for fabric and foam outlet stores where you can pick up “non-virgin” poly fill.  This is essentially brand new stuffing but when the factory makes pillow forms and the like, they toss all the mistakes into a shredder, pillow cover and all.  You can get enormous bags of the stuffing for about 40% off what you’d pay for the virgin stuff.    If there weren’t a market for this material, it would end up in the dumpster. 

As for getting the cats off the bed at night….let’s just say that’s a work in progress.  But at least they are having some fun during the day!

Popular Pin: Epic Fail

If you listen closely, you can hear the cumulative sigh of relief all around you.  The hectic holiday season is over and we all have some time to ourselves to get back into the swing of “normal” daily life.  For me that means finally getting to all those projects on my wish list….or should I say on my Pinterest boards.  If you’re on Pinterest, surely you’ve seen something similar to this one floating around:

I pinned it a while back thinking that I could use this tip to dress up a new bird feeder design that I was working on.  Much to my dismay, not only does the link not work properly, but the instructions on the pin itself don’t actually work.  Disheartened, I set out online to see what other solution I could come up with as I had gotten quite attached to my idea of a new feeder.  Oddly enough, I found many bloggers simply regurgitating the information that I already had on my pin.  I wondered if they were actually testing the final product before posting it or if they had magic ceramics and Sharpies that I could buy somewhere.

So off to Hobby Lobby for inking pens I went.  I picked up two different paint pens that are supposed to be permanent and went straight to town decorating a few random plates that I picked up while out thrifting.  I even included a plate decked out with Sharpies for the sake of comparison.  Here’s what I ended up with:

The first plate is the plate that I used Sharpies on (I was still secretly hoping that it would work and I that I had just done something wrong the first time).  On the second plate I used a paint marker from Tree House Studios that doesn’t require baking to be permanent.  And finally, the pink plate was done with a DecoArt glass paint marker.  It also required baking.

Sadly, the Sharpie plate didn’t work again.

The paint marker from Tree House Studios had a nice flow and I like the way it writes.  But it also scrubs off with a little elbow grease.  I also don’t like that the ink contains Xylol (a common, flammable ingredient in some paints and thinners) and can be harmful…even fatal…if swallowed.  So for the sake of the birds and the environment, this is not the ink for me.

Finally the DecoArt glass paint marker gave me what I was looking for.  Well, for the most part. 

I got a little impatient as I had a feeling this would be the one that would work and started scrubbing the plate only 6 hours after cooling completed.  So the first TW"eat" is slightly lighter in color than the second.  But the next morning I scrubbed my li'l heart out and viola!  It stuck.  So the ink is permanent, but it is much thinner than the other two options and tends to bleed into any little scratches on the plate.  When you’re repurposing someone’s dinner plates you can imagine the tiny scratches on the surface that you’d never notice otherwise.  So I think I’ll keep working with the DecoArt markers and see if I can refine the method to avoid the bleeding.  

Have you tried any other glass/ceramic pens with any success?  If so I’d love to hear all about it!

And To All a Good Night!

If I had just one wish, it would be that all families, all around the world could have this one day to celebrate each other.  In the light of recent events, I know this won't be possible.  For the families struggling to piece their homes back together after Superstorm Sandy swept them away and the entire community experiencing the grief left in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, I will keep each of you in my thoughts this year. 

In the coming year, I call on all of my readers to honor the strength shown by those who are suffering in my home state of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and beyond by sharing a little more of yourselves.  Give to others, be kind to one another and the earth and celebrate your loved ones every chance you get.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and brightest of New Years. Thank you for following me on my journey this year, I look forward to another adventurous year of upcycling with you in 2013!

A Menu Board from a Cabinet Door

Last month I posted my first blog piece to the Eco-Etsy blog called A Thanksgiving Feast Fit for a Bird.  For those of you not familiar with Eco-Etsy, it is a group of Etsy artists who products are made with the environment in mind.  I'm happy to say that this month, and once a month from here on, I will be posting under the Green Living section of the blog.  This month's feature shows readers how to turn an old kitchen cabinet door into a menu board for the holiday table.  Here's a sneak peek:

Be sure to visit the Eco-Etsy blog for a step by step tutorial.

How to Make a Sweater Dress for Your Dog ... From Your Old Sweater!

Today Miss Bella is modeling a very eco-chic sweater dress that has taken a bit of a walk on the wild side.  This mint green dress was fashioned from the sleeve of an old sweater and embellished with a zebra striped ruffle.  It's the party dress that every girl needs this holiday season.  Here's how to get yours...well MAKE yours:

First gather your supplies:

• Old Sweater
• Something to sew with (preferably a machine)
• Scissors 
• Ruffle Trim

 

First, cut off one of the sleeves of the sweater and make two arm holes.  Cut it just like I have it pictured, the extra "tail" of fabric will be used to attach your ruffle skirt.  You'll cut your arm holes both at the same time while the sleeve is folded as it is in the first picture below.  This will ensure that your arm holes are the same size...kinda.

Then zig zag stitch over your cuts to keep the seams from unraveling.  It's not an easy feat and if you tug too much as your sweater feeds under the sewing machine foot you'll have some wonky looking armholes!!  Not that I know from experience or anything...

Now for the cutie patootie butt ruffle! Start at the bottom of your sweater dress and pinned down (then stitch) a length of ruffle into place.  Move up a bit and do another ruffle slightly overlapping the first, then another and another.  Do as many as you like, I ended on the fourth length of ruffle.

So what do you think?  Very eco-chic, adorable and simplish, right?