Easter Cross Chalkboard Art

Happy Easter!
Now I have two chalkboards to decorate!  Woohoo!  This one is our latest find at a big antique mall near our home.  So much fun there, I gotta go back soon! Anyway, this was marked as being a 1940's schoolhouse chalkboard.  I'm not sure if that's true or not, but you can definitely tell its old. The actual chalkboard is so much smoother than my homemade one! Love it!

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my Valentine Day art I did on this chalkboard.  Since right after Valentine's its been sitting blank waiting for me to make it pretty again.  I decided to make it reflect the real reason we celebrate Easter!

Of course I scanned Pinterest for an idea and as usual, I found one HERE.  Unfortunately, there is no link to who actually created the original art, so I can't thank that person! :(  Here I start with a clean slate and my inspiration art.

Let's get started.  First I drew the base.  With this type of art, if you don't like it, wipe it away with a damp paper towel and start over.

Next was the top, bottom and sides.

Then I added the wording and some dots.

I never like my writing, but if you goof....just wipe it away and re-do it!

And a few more details.  It's all done in steps.  Slowly but surely.

A little filling in and add some lines.

Then I outlined the whole cross again.  It was a tight squeeze around the sides, but at this point, I wasn't starting over.  It's art, it doesn't have to be perfect!

Sometime I use a knife to sharpen my chalk for fine details.

Just keep going until you achieve the look you want.  I added a bit of extra shading in the body of the cross because I can never leave anything alone! LOL!

The shading is just a series of quick, light-handed dashes of chalk.

Now it's sitting in our kitchen by the coffee maker.  I love that its there each morning to greet me when I get my morning cup of Joe!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home

Old Bookpage Easter Eggs

I love using old book pages in my crafting so when I saw THIS post about covering Easter eggs with book pages, I had to try it too! Of course I did!  Thanks Erin!

This is one of those tedious crafts, not for the faint of heart....just sayin'!  I only made three of these sweet little eggs this time.

To make the book page covered eggs you will need:

Old book pages
Plastic Easter Eggs
Modge Podge
Foam brush
Scissors

First, cut your book page to size using your plastic egg as a guide.

Swipe on a bit of Modge Podge around the middle of the egg.  Sorry for the blurriness of this picture!

Wrap your book page around your egg and make sure it gets a good seal on the ends before proceeding.

Using your scissors, snip small sections all the way down to the egg.

Swipe some modge podge on to the end of the egg and start pressing down each strip one by one.

When you have both ends done, swipe Modge Podge all over the egg to hold everything in place.

Be sure to get all the little ends good and coated with Modge Podge so they will stay put.  Let dry.

You can leave them plain or decorate them like I did here.  Either way, they are ca-ute and fun to decorate with!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home

Easter Egg Wreath Revisited

Last year I made one of these wreaths for myself. This year I made one for my sweet Mama!  Go HERE to see mine from last year.  It's a bigger wreath form, color blocked and darker shaded eggs.  Mama's is a 14" wreath form, the colors are mingled and I used the lighter colored eggs this time.

Of course I love how mine turned out, but I really like this one too!  Such a fun, fast and easy craft to put together.

I got all my supplies at Walmart back during Valentines.  Don't you hate when they rush one holiday through another one?  Really Walmart? Really? Any who....you will need the following items to recreate this wreath:

1) 14" wreath form (I used straw on this one)
1) package of plastic Easter eggs (42 count)
1) package of basket filler (preferably the paper type and not the plastic type)
Hot glue gun (use the low setting)
Flat head screwdriver (for pushing the filler into the open spaces)

I just picked a color (blue) and used one of each color egg until I got to the blue one again and kept repeating around the wreath form.  Glue, hold, cool and repeat.

When you are finished gluing the eggs to the wreath form, fill in the open spaces with the basket filler.  Add a little glue if necessary, sometimes its a tight enough squeeze you don't need glue.

I think I may make one more for a friend of mine.  These wreaths are so easy to make that you really don't have to think much about it.  What have you made for Easter this year? Leave me a link!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home

Yarn Carrot Craft for Your Spring Decor

I saw this craft via Pinterest and had to make my own. So stinkin' ca-ute!  See the original creation HERE.  Thanks for the fun Amy!

I will say that this is a challenging craft so if you're short on patience you may want to rethink attempting this one! LOL! 

To recreate my version of Amy's carrot, you will need:

Orange yarn
Green raffia
Styrofoam cone
Coarse fingernail file
An un-sharpened pencil
Hot glue gun (use low setting)
Quick drying craft glue
Scissors

The foam cones come two in a package from Walmart.  I just used one for now...maybe I'll make another one...just not on this day!  Using your coarse nail file, shave down the straight edges to a more rounded look.  You could certainly make it more carrot shaped, but I liked the look I ended up with, but its up to you.  It's a messy task, so hold over some newspaper or the trash can.

Next, using my pencil, I "carved" a little hole in the big end of the foam cone for my raffia to fit into.  By the way, they had this raffia marked down to a dollar at Walmart as well. Yay!

I didn't measure exactly how much raffia I used, but just make it as full as you like.  I decided not to clip the ends and leave it in big loops instead.  Just place a bit of hot glue in the hole you just carved and add the raffia.  Hold until it cools.

Now add a drop of hot glue near your "stem" and start wrapping the yarn like so.  This is the challenging part.  Amy said to use a bit of hot glue along the way, but I was making a giant mess so I grabbed some of my fast drying craft glue and slathered it on the foam in small sections to help the yarn hang on.  Of course there was white glue here and there, but after it dried you couldn't even tell!

 

I don't know about you, but now that I look at this picture my poor little rabbits look as if they are frightened of that big ole carrot!  Maybe they are just unsure if its safe to approach or not?! LOL!  Mama always warned us about things that are too good to be true!

Even though it tested my patience, I love how it turned out!  It's adorable!  My honey even said how awesome it was! Thanks baby!

What is it with me and yarn lately? IDK! First I made my Valentine Wreath, then my St. Patrick's Day Wreath and now this carrot craft!  What next?

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home

RV Fridge Makeover with Chalk Paint

Our camper had a bit of damage to the fridge door.  It bugged me!  I fixed it...with chalk paint!  Everything is better with chalk paint, right?

I'm going to have so much fun keeping the camper themed chalk art on here!  There are so many cute ones out there too!

See the "T" shaped damage there? I think the previous owners must have taped something there and when removed, the tape took off the "wood grained" paper covering on the doors.  I fixed it in a flash using my chalk paint.

First, I taped off the parts I didn't want painted with some blue painter's tape.  Make sure you get a tight seal with your tape or you may have leaks where you don't want them.

Here's a trick I found on Pinterest.  Cover your paint tray with foil for faster clean up!  Love it!  I wish you could cover your brush and roller too! LOL!  I put down a drop cloth and wore gloves because I'm messy when I paint!

I applied the first coat of paint with the brush.  It didn't cover very well as you can see above.  I can still see the damage at this point too. Not good.

I applied the second coat of paint with the roller.  Much better this time but I can still see the damage!  Maybe one more coat?

All together I applied 3 coats of chalk paint, actually more over the damaged area, but if you look really hard, you can still see the damage a little bit. Darn it!  Well, its not glowing like it was before I started the process.

As directed, I waited 48 hours for the paint to cure and then I primed it by using a piece of white chalk.  Using the side of the chalk, rub the entire surface like you see above.  Remove the chalk with a dry cloth and you're on your way to creating your chalk art designs!

You can find lots of designs for chalk art on Pinterest.  I even have a board all about Chalky Love.  I also previously made a camping themed chalk board art HERE.

Since I created this art we went camping with the kiddos.  Being that the fridge is right near the door, the art didn't fair too well.  Must be time for another design!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home

An Easy Fun Rag Shamrock

I'm cutting it really close, but I have one more St. Patrick's Day craft to show you.  While perusing Pinterest, I've seen several different crafts using a wire hanger formed into some fun shape and I wanted to try my hand at it too!  My honey wears a uniform every day so we have loads of wire hangers, large shirt hangers and smaller pants hangers.

I had lots of scrap fabric from way back when I worked at a Vet's office and made the bandanas for all the groomed babies. Anywho...lots of fabric and lots of hangers equals a fun rag shamrock.

My honey's strong hands bent and shaped the hangers into the shamrock shape.  He just looked at one of the shamrocks on a piece of the fabric and tah dah, its a shamrock! My honey is the best!

To be honest with you, I didn't even try to make the shape.  I left it all to him and his handiness!  I'm pretty sure he just did it because he was tired of me asking him if he could shape this hanger like a shamrock! LOL!

You will need your shamrock shaped hangers, several different green fabrics and some scissors to make your own rag shamrock.

I took my fabric and snipped several sections along one edge and then ripped them off to make my rag strips.  This big ole pile wasn't even enough to finish both shamrocks, so make LOTS!

Step 1: Fold your rag strip in half with the ends in one hand and the loop in the other.  Place it under your wire like so.

Step 2: Push the ends through the loop.  You basically just switch ends in your hands.

Step 3: While holding your wire, pull the ends until the rag strip is tight on the wire, then push it over and keep going.

Lastly I wrapped the "stem" with a piece of fabric just so it matched the rest of it.  This is the smallest one made with the pants hanger.  I think it turned out the best.  It's going in our camper for a little cute St. Patty's Day decor.

Here's the larger of the two.  I had to trim it a little with my scissors to give it a better shape.  I made the strips way too long on this one.  It's staying in our room to add a little green fun in there.

This is another fun craft that you can just sit and watch TV while you put it together.  Easy and cheap, you cant beat that!  We are off camping this weekend so stay tuned for more camper FUN!  Happy St. Patrick's Day a day early! Don't forget to wear green tomorrow!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home