Thrifted Metal Tray Makeover

I found this metal box that was missing the lid at Salvation Army for $1.50.  I took it home and painted it with a mellow yellow to match the walls in the Family Room. 

I also added some dark brown wax to age it a bit.  Now it has a home on the hutch.

Address Change due to Custom Domain

I've signed up for a custom domain name and I hope I don't lose any of you- I truly appreciate your stopping by and for joining me in my crafting adventures.

In a few days the transition should be complete and my new address will be:  http://www.scattersunshine-jana.com/   Hope to see you there!

Getting the Message- Chalk Paint on Magnetic Message Board

I'm having fun with the homemade chalk paint.  I found 14 x 14 ugly metal signs at Hobby Lobby on 90% clearance- so they were $1.40 each.  I used these before for some other projects so I was happy to find them again.  I grabbed all they had. 

Here is how you make the magnetic boards:

Using homemade chalk paint- paint one or two coats of paint on the metal- no primer needed.  Let dry.

Sand off any edges and areas that you want to show to "age" the piece.

Add a coat of clear wax covering the entire surface

Let that dry and then add a coat of dark brown wax. 

Let that dry and then buff gently.

You can also make coordinating magnets.  Just glue a magnet to any small object using E6000 glue.  Let dry well.  I used vintage buttons from my stash.

Now your message board is ready to go to work- it can be used for family messages, or for a rotating display of favorite quotes and scriptures, or to show off adorable family pictures, etc.

3/28/11  I've linked up with making the world cuter here

Recipe for chalk paint- great for painting furniture

I read Miss Mustard Seeds #1 and #2 enthusiastic reviews for Annie Sloan's chalk paint (not the kind for chalkboards or sidewalks- the kind for furniture, walls and floors).  I impulse shopped a quart of duck egg (a blue green mix)- one of my very favorite paint colors- it came- and it is gorgeous!  I also ordered their dark brown wax- I really like that stuff, too.  I ordered from the Southern Insitutue of Faux Finishing and they had two day shipping at no extra charge- very nice! 

Often when I'm antiquing I just add a top coat of a dark wood stain or glaze.  Then wipe away the excess- leaving behind traces of brown.  I tried using this staining technique on some wood that I had painted with chalk paint and the paint sucked it up the glaze so fast I couldn't wipe off the excess- I had to start over and repaint the piece!- So- make sure you use a layer of clear wax before adding the dark brown wax.

I was so excited about chalk paint I wanted to get more- but it is about $35 a quart- pricey.

So, I did what all good crafter/ thrifters do and I looked on the web for a recipe.... and I found one that worked!

I know these recipes say they are for chalkboard paint- but the paint looked really good on the metal I painted.  These are the recipes I tested  here.  You do need to stir these mixtures very well.  I painted some samples and the results looked very similar to the expensive chalk paint.  This paint didn't store well- so just mix up what you need for the day.

To purchase my ingredients I went to habitat for humanity restore and bought Sherwin Williams latex paint for $1.50 a quart in some great colors!  I also used keracolor-U unsanded grout with polymer from Lowes.  The chalk paint is supposed to be thick (kind of like thick cake batter)- so if your recipe turns out too thin just add a bit more grout- if your recipe is too thick add some water. 

Here are the steps for a nice finish:


Clean your wood
Paint with chalk paint
Cover with a clear wax
Antique with a dark wax
Buff and & enjoy


I wonder if I can make my own dark brown wax by mixing paint with clear minwax?
I wonder if I can use wood stain to antique a piece if I just use clear wax over the chalk paint first?
I wonder what would happen if I painted my bathroom cabinets in this duck egg color ? 

3/2012- If your unsanded grout is lumpy you may even want to sift it before adding the other ingredients- this will eliminate white lumps and clumps in your finished project.

Activity Day- Using Appropriate Language

This is a take off of the idea found on sugardoodles- using lollipops to remind the girls that their words should be sweet-

We read some quotes from Elder Holland's Talk, The Tongue of Angels from the April 2007 General Conference.  Then we made lollipops using the recipe here.  I purchased the LorAnn flavor oils from Hobby Lobby (tasted like yummy jolly rancher candy) - they have some fun flavors like rootbeer and butterscotch- the girls really liked the watermelon-  we added two drops of food coloring to each batch.  I found the candy molds and lollipop sticks online. 

One of the molds melted- causing a mess- but the girls didn't mind- that was just perfect for them to snack on while they waited for the other lollipops to cool.  The girls bagged their lollipops, tied them with a ribbon and added a little quote- we made two batches and the girls (4 of them) were tickled to have some to share with their siblings.  I didn't realize how easy it is to make lollipops- my kids have been missing out!

Great Furniture Thrift Store in San Antonio

While in San Antonio I was able to visit a few thrift stores.  I was looking for a small piece of furniture to hold piano music books.  While I didn't find just what I wanted I did find a few big pieces that I loved... having left my camera in the hotel room I will show you some similar furniture pictures from off of the web. You can buy this hutch on etsy.

The El Paso Import Company has some fun pieces- go there first if you need inspiration of what you can do with a hunk of wood and some chippy paint.  And of course, there is inspiration all over web land- Picture below from centsational girl.

and this picture from twice twice lovely

For a super duper paint tutorial check out miss mustard seed- she has a couple of different ones.  Now you have the know how-  go to the Old Door Store at 1710 Blanco, San Antonio, TX-  look at their cool stuff, faint when you see the prices, scrape yourself off of the floor and then go next door to the unnamed furniture store (seriously I didn't see a name anywhere).  If you don't find what you need ask the nice owner.  He has another store you can check out.   Solid wood dressers were $65 and I think he would be happy to negotiate prices with you.  There was a huge entertainment hutch- that needed a little extra TLC for only $85. 

I know some of you live in thrifters heaven and you can get amazing prices on furniture- even free stuff on Craigslist.  I don't.  Our salvation army and goodwill sell junky particle board (dinged and warped) shelves for more then you can buy them new at Target.  So these prices are amazing for me and there are so many possibilities!!!

San Antonio Spa Treatment

First off- the above picture is not of my foot- it is an image off of the web- I just wanted to get your attention.  My toenails are only painted about three days of the year and I never wear foot jewelry because it clashes with my five year old flip flops.  I'm not usually a spa type person- this is mostly due to the fact that I'm a very thrifty and private person and it took me about 45 min. of my last (one and only) one hour facial to relax- I mean this total stranger was touching my face!  But the last 15 minutes felt nice.  Then I paid the bill and I wondered if it was truly worth it. 

Well, I decided to try spa d' sante while in San Antonio.  I opted for the foot rejuvenation service.  This included an herbal soak, hot stone therapy (so soothing), and paraffin wrap.  I don't think it did anything for my skin but it was really relaxing and  now I'm on the hunt for my own set of small rocks to warm up and place between my toes.  The forty-five minute service was $32.

The spa I went to was on Broadway.  It was spotlessly clean and I want to redecorate my bathroom to look just like the rooms there!
So, if you are a spa type person who is on a budget in San Antonio you may want to try one of spa d' sante's many services (I have no connection to this company and sadly (hah!) was not compensated for this public endorsement).

Finally HOME

Wow, it has been a BUSY ten days!  My husband and I ran away to San Antonio for a few days and it was delightful!  We came home Saturday, went to church on Sunday and packed up the kids and left to drive the 12 hours to Mesa AZ on Monday morning (leaving around 3 a.m.).

I want to post about our trips - I'm drowning in laundry, suitcases and strawberries to plant-so, I'm sitting here surfing the web.  Yikes, I've got to get busy but here is a cute headband project that I just had to share.... tooooo cute!  The tutorial is at i candy.

And just in case you don't have anything to do with about $6,000 and a few weeks check out what flea market trixie did to her kitchen- her remodel included appliances- very impressive!

More next week!

Blog Break

I'm going to be gone for a bit- hopefully eating some of this:

Spending some time shopping here:

And hanging out with my sweetheart. 

Magnetic Quote Boards for Activity Day

For activity day today we made magnet boards for the girls to display their favorite quotes and goals, etc.  We started out with these metal signs that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby ($2.20 each).

The girls each picked out their favorite scrapbook paper, we cut the paper to size and mod podged it over the "glamorous" chair pix.  That took about five minutes.  They added a top coat of mod podge to give it a nice glossy finish.  While that dried, the girls used scrapbooking paper and embellishments to decorate a few basic quotes that I had printed up.  To finish the project the girls tied a ribbon onto the hooks on the back so that they could easily hang it up. 

I had made the girls glass marble magnets for Christmas and never given them the gift.... yeah, so it's only March I refuse to feel guilty!  I admit it I fall behind ( you should not see the stacks of stuff that still needs put away from my food storage presentation....it makes me tired just thinking about it....). 

Anyway, they attached their cute quotes with the magnets and dashed home to show their parents.  We squeezed in a tiny bit about goals and the benefit of having a daily reminder posted on their adorable magnet boards, too.  They seemed to have fun.

Ideas for Kids Crafts

My kids get extra excited about doing art projects if they have something new to catch their attention- maybe a new craft product or a new way of doing things.  I have found the Crayola website to be full of ideas- to most of you that is probably obvious-

and obviously Crayola is encouraging you to use their products- but still there are a plethora of ideas (look under the parent and the educator sections).... happy crafting!

More Earrings

Well, the earring making class is done- we had a very small group- but that was ok by me!   Here are the two pairs I whipped up between helping the others-

I'm loving bright turquoise blues and corals (not pictured) this spring-and it really feels like spring today with weather in the low 80's.  What colors sound good to you?