chalkboard art

One of the things I did for the Holiday Open House was make some fun chalkboard art.

I started by digging through the barn for some old frames.

I thought I was going to spray paint some plywood or mdf, but hubby found pre made 2' x 4' sheets of chalkboard at Home Depot for $9.97.  I am always into taking some shortcuts!
So you will need a frame, pre made or make your own chalkboard, chalk, chalk markers, ruler, wipes, q tips, aqua net unscented hairspray, glazers points.

Start by printing off some artwork from the internet that you like (pinterest has some great ones).  

I then fold the paper into squares and then grid off my chalkboard accordingly with a light chalk line.  

This then becomes your guideline to hand drawing the artwork onto the board.

I will lightly draw out the placement of the artwork and words in chalk to make sure it is spaced correctly.  If not, simply erase and draw again.

I then take a chalk marker and begin my drawing.  Again, make a mistake, simply take a baby wipe or dampened q tip to erase...

When it is all done I will go through with a baby wipe and q tip and clean up all my lines,

I will set it aside to look from a far and make sure I don't have any changes.  
When I am finally done I will lay it on a towel and lightly spray it with unscented aqua net to set it.

Let it dry flat before you put it in the frame.
When done, use glazer points to secure it in the frame and you have wonderful Holiday artwork that can be changed out season after season!

Here are a couple more of what I did, all of these will be available at Kim's store, Uptown Antiques, in Marysville.  Her Holiday Open House is Nov 7 & 8.

gentlemen...start your engines.....

One of the sweet treats my daughter and I made for the sale were these little candy Santa sleighs.
You can pick what ever candy you like and create lovely little gifts that are great for the kids to give to each other or sweet little teacher gifts.

Start with a full size candy bar and hot glue the candy cane sled rails (as you see at the bottom of this picture).  I used my two favorites: Reese's and Kit Kats. 
I secure the rails with a little extra hot glue on the sides.
Then pile up the mini candy bars.  Add a  pretty ribbon and a little bow.  
I finished mine off with these cute little chocolate Santa's I found at Aldi's.

 And yes,  a glass of wine is always nice to accompany any creation :)