Glittered Chalkboard Ornament Tag Tutorial

I am in love with all things glittery and gold these days, seriously In. Love. So it seemed fitting to make these fun Glittered Chalkboard Ornaments (that also double as a fun gift tag!) for Jo-Ann's new #fabulouslyfestive campaign. 

I was asked, along with some other lovely bloggers, to create something fabulous and festive for the holidays and, well, this sums up those two words so perfectly in my eyes :-) 

These are so simple to make and have such a wow factor. Plus with the chalkboard component there are endless possibilities to what you can use them for...write a name, a Christmas phrase, or draw a design, you name it!

Glittered Chalkboard Ornament Tags

Unfinished wood ornaments (found at Joanns)

Chalkboard paint

Paintbrush

Mod Podge

Glitter

Twine

Yarn needle

I found these unfinished wood ornaments in the holiday aisle at Jo-Anns. These are great because they have a raised edge around the star which is perfect for glittering up!

You will need some chalkboard paint, mod podge, glitter of your choice and a paintbrush to do this project.

The first thing you want to do is paint the inside of the ornament with the chalkboard paint. You do not need to be perfect with the paint as the edges will be glittered so any messes you do make will get covered. Follow the directions on your bottle of paint, mine stated that it needed two coats and then it needed to cure for 24 hours.

Once 24 hours has passed, take a piece of chalk and rub it all over the chalkboard paint to prep it for writing.

Then, paint on a layer of mod podge on the raised edges of your ornaments (not the entire ornament!), heavily sprinkle your glitter over top and tap off, and let dry for about 20 minutes. Once dry, add another layer of mod podge over the glitter (again, on the raised edges not the entire ornament!) to seal it so it does not flake off.

And then grab your chalk or a chalk paint pen and decorate as you like!

Ahhh...glittery gold goodness!!! I 'm feeling good about that :-)

For more inspiration in your holiday crafting, visit the Joann's craft catalog here.

And be sure to use the coupon below to get a jump on your craft shopping too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

TUTORIAL: Stamped Wooden Utensils with the Silhouette Machine and September Deals!

If you have ever wanted to design your own stamps then you are going to love the new Stamping Starter Kit from Silhouette America!  It is totally rad! Silhouette gave me a kit to play around with to create my very own custom stamps and holy cats, can I tell you how addicting this is!

For those of you who have followed along on my blog for any length of time, you know how much I love throwing a good party.  Well, designing my own stamps took party planning up a notch as now I'm able to coordinate a party theme's design onto those fun eco-friendly wooden utensils you see all over Pinterest, Etsy, and blogland in general! Then, just pick a coordinating color stamp pad and you can really get your party's colors picked up in even your utensils...so cool! I'm thinking chevron stamps, honeycombs, snowflakes...ahhh, the list goes on and on.

This is what the Stamping Starter Kit looks like. Everything you need to create your own stamps comes in one pretty little chevron box.

You get a special stamping cutting mat, a few sheets of their special stamping material you need to cut your stamps out with your Silhouette machine, 3 different sizes of acrylic blocks to place your stamp clings on to, ink, and a card for 10 free shapes!  You can also use the fonts and images from the Silhouette online store to create your own unique stamps just make sure they images/fonts aren't too narrow since then they may not cut well through the special stamping material!

I used the "dots" shape that came with the Stamping Starter Kit and cut it down to a thinner size cling to make stamping on my wooden utensils a breeze. 

Just place the cling onto the acrylic block using the guidelines to keep it straight and press your stamp into an ink pad to make it come to life, so easy I tell you! To clean your stamps, just use a baby wipe or a wet paper towel and the ink comes off and looks like new again.

And now, thanks to Silhouette, I can match my utensils to any party theme, wooo hooo! 

If you are interested in getting a Stamping Starter Kit for yourself (or maybe even a friend!) you can Click Here Now to get Silhouette's September Deal which runs from today, September 4 through September 13, 2013.  You can get a bundled deal with a Cameo or Portrait cutting machine or just the Stamping Starter Kit alone for a reduced price by using my Coupon Code: CARROTS. Get this deal while it is here cause once it's gone it's gone!

Happy Stamping my friends!

XOXO,

TUTORIAL: Framed Chalkboard To Do List

Michael's asked me to be a part of their First Day of School Blogger Challenge and, as I love a good challenge, how could I say no! With school starting at the end of the month for my littles I feel like our whole month of August is filled with trying to get all their Back to School appointments made. 

Eye exam...check! 

School physical...check! 

Dentist...appointment made! 

I'm also in the midst of trying to organize all their fall activities as now we have to do everything between after school between 4:30 and 7 since Noah and Penny will be in Full Day school (when did that happen?)

I thought a great project would be a Framed Chalkboard that not only looks pretty but is uber functional as it can go right on the fridge, a cabinet, or the wall and it can hold my ever-growing and ever-changing To Do List. This chalkboard is so simple to make, you are really going to fall in love with how easy it is to put together! And the chalkboard is not even real chalkboard...it's vinyl chalkboard so it is super light and erases beautifully and without all that yucky chalkboard dust!

Here's what you'll need to make it...

Framed Chalkboard To Do List

Large laser cut frame (from Michaels in the unfinished wood department)
Spray paint in color of your choice
Repositionable Chalk Roll Vinyl (from Michaels)
Scissors
Elmer's glue spots or super glue (from Michaels)
4 small magnets

The first thing you need to do is take your laser cut frame and spray paint it outside.  PS. Can I tell you how much love these laser cut frames!  They are so pretty...I have been dying to make a project using one forever!  They have so many different designs and sizes and they are really light weight too. I gave mine a few light coats of paint and then waited a couple hours until it was dry to the touch.

Once the paint is dry to touch, flip the laser cut frame over and use glue dots or super glue and glue all around the backside edge (like photo above). Cut your Chalkboard Vinyl to size.  Try to cut it so that you don't have any of the vinyl showing through the cut out holes from the front side! Place the chalkboard onto the glued edge you just created and press firmly.

Then you can either glue your magnets to each backside corner of the frame or you can leave the frame as is and just peel the chalkboard vinyl to use the repositional adhesive surface and stick to your wall or fridge that way.

And there you have it!  Such a pretty way to showcase your To Do List!
Makes it so much more fun to have one now, doesn't it?

Oh and a few more things...

Thank you Michaels for the challenge!  

You can take a look at the Michaels Back to School Lookbook for more ideas.

Also:
1. Michaels offers a 15 percent discount for teachers every day. Make sure to talk to a store associate during your next trip to learn more.
2. Need a large quantity of one back to school item but don’t see enough on the shelves? Michaels offers a bulk ordering program where you can order as many supplies as you need and save up to 20 percent.
3. Don’t forget to download the Michaels app so that you will always have the latest deals and coupons at your fingertips in case you need last minute school supplies.

**If you want to create something fun for Back to School make sure you tag @michaelsstores and use the hashtag #michaelsbts so they can share your creation on Pinterest!

**This is a Sponsored Post brought to you by Michael’s. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

XOXO,