Menu Board

Don't you love the new Menu and Dishes boards!  I saw the darling idea after a friend sent me a link to Melissa's post at TheInspiredRoom.  She had painted the side of a kitchen hutch with chalkboard paint and made it a menu board.  I totally loved the idea naturally, but had to think what would work best if you didn't have the side of a hutch to paint.  I finally decided a simply 1/4" board would be great for a chalkboard menu.  I was a little concerned about it moving around a lot when you erase or whatnot.  That was when I decided it needed holes drilled in the corners to be mounted directly to the wall, rather than sawtooth picture hangers on the back or the board being hung with a ribbon.  

After our recent dish disaster I told Bobbi, my vinyl lady :0) that I had to make a smaller board to be hung right next to the sink that said "Dishes" to keep track of who's day it was to suds the pile of crusty plates.

What's that?  I didn't tell you about my Dish Disaster???

Well, about 2 days before my friend Wendi came to visit me with her 6 kids and husband, my dishwasher broke completely :-O  Could it be!?!  8 more people, plus our 5, using dishes all day and no dishwasher (electrical one anyway)!!!  I stayed on top of things ok during the week, but the repairman did not come while we were gone on vacation, and still not after we came back.  You should understand that a lot of the newer houses around here come with "Home Warranties."  That means that when you thing breaks, like your dish washer or garage door opener (yep, we have broken that before too), the warranty company sends a repairman out to fix it, rather than replace it.  Usually the repair would be more expensive than the unit being replaced, but since it works kind of like insurance, you only pay a co-pay and the rest of the balance is tossed out into the atmosphere to be burned up by the sun...or something like that.

Finally, last Saturday I decided I was sick of doing dishes by hand and would not do another dish!  Hah!  Eat that, you horrible home warranty company!  Only problem was I forgot to tell them that I was on dishwashing strike.  Apparently they didn't really care, if they knew that is :0)

So, as I crafted my little Super Saturday fingers to the bone, the dishes piled up.  

Yep.  They piled...  

and piled...

and piled up. 

At least we still rinsed them.  I must say that.  We weren't totally unsanitary :-O

 The repairman came on Monday and said it needed to be replaced, but we had to wait for everything to go through.....  Finally Thursday I threw in the towel.  We literally had not one cup in the cupboard nor fork in the drawer.  My real hope was that the dishwasher would have been in the repairman's truck and he would just take this one with him when he left back on Monday.  Since each of the following 4 days no progress was made, I hung my head in utter hopelessness and started washing dishes.  4 hours and a very sore shoulder later, the dishes were done and I decided I didn't need to wash another dish the rest of the week.  

Cue family dish chart....

The boards were painted with 2 or 3 coats of black chalkboard paint.  Now, if you have never used the stuff, it dries about as fast as...I don't know.  My mind has already gone to bed.  You will just have to know that it never dries.  I live in a VERY dry state.  After 2 hours the board was still wet in spots.  After over night, it was still a little tacky.  Plan on 2 days to get things really dry.  

As for dimensions, the big board is 16x40" and the little one is 9" side by 24" long.  

Home Depot sells 1/4" MDF Handy Panels (24x48") for about $5.  Again, you can probably get the guy at Home Depot to cut the board down for you with a wink and a smile :0)

I went with 1/4" because I didn't want the board to be heavy and it was going to be a big board.  The 1/4" seems like it will be sturdy and light.  

You will only get one menu board out of the handy panel, but you can get up to 5 of the little ones out of the same board, just so you know.

Anyway, I primed my boards with brush on primer, but the spray paint kind works just as well.

Apply one coat of the chalkboard paint and let dry about 2 hours.  Apply another coat and let dry overnight or longer :0)  

When the paint is completely dry, apply the vinyl.  I put the word on at the top, then figured out how many more inches were left on the board.  Take that number and divide it by 7.  That is how much space you have for each circle monogram letter.  Use a ruler, or three rulers like me :0) and put your vinyl letter in the middle of the allotted space.

Now, before you use the chalkboard, you need to prime it.  I had forgotten that this step existed.  You prim the chalkboard by rubbing a stick of chalk sideways on the board.

Cover as much of the board as possible.  It would be easier if the vinyl weren't there, but I was worried it wouldn't stick if I primed the board first, and then applied the vinyl.

Now use a piece of felt to rub all the chalk off.

Consider yourself primed!

There...Wait!

I think I can do a better job than that.  I am holding a box of colored chalk!  Hold on...

There!  I like that better.  It almost insinuates that dishes are going to be FUN on your assigned day :0D

And here are Mom's finished dishes!  

See, the board is working already.

After Super Saturday is over and I no longer need my board as a sample, it will live here.

There you have Super Saturday Idea number 4.

I have to say it is one of my favorites.  

Oh!  I forgot to mention that we will offer three word strip choices for the top of the board:

Menu, Dishes, and To Do, in case you want to use the board more like a weekly calendar or message board (or in case you don't really cook :0)

More Super Saturday ideas coming soon!!!

Groceries, Check!

Groceries, Check!  Got em' :0)

I wasn't sure if I could get these guys posted today.  Luckily, I had to wait up for Madison to get home from babysitting sooooo time I had!

Here are my wooden play food pieces, FINISHED!

I used the labels I posted the other day HERE.

You can download them HERE with Dropbox.

  I cut a pile of scrap wood into blocks and used modge podge to apply the labels.  I went to put the labels on last night and realized that I was OUT OF MODGE PODGE!!!  You know, I don't think that has ever happened to me before!  I am sure that I have just forgotten where I decided to store it.  Whatever.  I took that as my sign to go to bed, but went to the store first thing this morning to buy some more. I will tell you, I tried a new kind this time.  Here is the one...

I figured that it would be better for the high use and rough kind of play this wooden play food will get.  If you don't have it, I wouldn't worry.  Just apply a few extra coats of regular mogde podge or polyurethane and you will be good.  

One thing you should know about this hard coat modge podge, you have to let it cure for 4 WEEKS!  What! Can't play with this food for 4 weeks!?!  It isn't a problem for me because my set will be on display for the next month and not being played with.  For anyone else, it probably won't work.  Honestly, I would probably use regular modge podge to attach the labels and for the first top coat, then use regular polyurethane as the top coat, in 2-3 applications for durability.

OK, now for the cut list I promised.  I will give you the complete cut list in a hand-to-the-guy format you can take, with that plate of cookies mentioned earlier, to the Home Depot guy {or your dear Hubby}.  I have also listed each piece separately below so you know which block goes with each label.

Cut List

1x4:  2@2 1/2"

1x6:  1@5 1/2"

2x3:  1@6"

2x4: 1@1 3/8"

        1@3 1/4"

        3@4"

        1@4 1/8" 

        1@4 1/4"

        1@4 3/4"

        1@5"

Shaped pieces (if you have someone to cut them):

2x4:  1@4 1/4"

         2@5"

         1@5 1/4"

2x6:  1@6 1/2

Amount of wood you will need

This means that you will need this many inches of the following boards (I add an inch for good measure.  Watch for knots in your board because it will equal lost inches and you will need more wood than I have listed):

1x4: 5-6"

1x6: 6"

2x3: 6"

2x4: 28-30", basically 2 1/2 feet

If you are doing all the pieces, including the shaped bottles and cartons use this list instead:

1x4: 5-6"

1x6: 6"

2x3: 6"

2x4: 42", basically 4 feet

2x6:  7"

Now to match the sizes with the pieces:

1x4- 2 1/2"x's 2{Frozen Veggies}

1x6- 5 1/2" {Pizza}

2x3- 6"{Spaghetti}

2x4- 1 3/8"{Butter}, 3 1/4"{Oreo}, 4"x's 3{Lasagna, Goodfish, and Chips-oh-Boy}, 4 1/8"{Waffles}, 4 1/4 {Chicken Nuggets}, 4 3/4"{Cereal} 5"{Mac-n-cheese}

Then there are the shaped pieces.  You will need more advanced tools to make or know someone who whittles :0)  You could always take up whittling yourself!  I didn't put those patterns in the post, but if you would like them, just shoot me an email and I will get them for you.  

Here are the wood cuts you will need for the Milk carton, the egg carton, the ketchup, ranch and mustard:

2x4- 5 1/4"{Ketchup}, 5"{Ranch}, 5"{Eggs}, and 4 1/4{Mustard}

2x6- 6 1/2{Milk}

*Now, let me tell you a secret about getting just a little wood.  Back in the back of the store (Home Depot at least) they sell smaller portions of lumber for something crazy like $.50 a piece.  I have purchased pieces of a board that should have been $10 for $.50 out of the, and here is what they call it, cull lumber cart.  You could very easily find all the wood I have listed for $.50 each board making your total cost $2 for the wood.  Think if you know anyone that woodworks too.  They probably have half of what you are looking for just sitting around begging to be used.*

Paint List

These are the paints I used on the wooden blocks before attaching the labels.  Please remember than they were simply paint colors I had on hand that happened to work.  There are many choices that will also work if you don't have the exact colors I used.  Your best bet is to get the labels printed and then color match to them directly.

Red- Americana- Tomato Red

Yellow{waffles and butter}-Delta- Young Wheat or Pale Yellow

Yellow{Mustard bottle}- Micheals brand (Craft smart)- Mustard Yellow

White- Delta brand- Light Ivory

Blue- Americana-Navy Blue

Green- Delta- Green or Medium Foliage Green

Make sure your paint is totally dry before modge podging the labels on.  It would be terrible if the paint smudged all over the labels.

For Super Saturday we will be doing all of the food, except for the shaped pieces.  I figure they will take too much time and I can't get a smooth enough cut without the proper routing tools to guarantee a quality product.  That said, I figure the wood to cost about $1.50.  When I add in the cost of the color copies on cardstock for the labels, plus the paint,  modge podge, brushes, and plastic for the table, I think this project will come in between $5 and $6.  Not bad!  

Here are the pieces of wooden food up close... 

Frozen veggies.  I actually got the Green Giant image from a photo taken of the Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota.   I used my scrapbook program to rubber stamp the image in green.  I opted to paint the block green, but a light blue would work well also.

The Goodfish lable didn't end up as orange as I thought it would.  It ended up more red.  I painted the cracker box red and the cookies blue. 

The Lucky Farms cereal was so fun to make.  I learned a ton about my program, Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 I have had for almost 2 years now.  It can do things I never even realized, like adding gradient color to any image, font, or background.  You should check it out.  It can be downloaded right on to your computer without any waiting for it to come in the mail.  I really couldn't live without it.  It's awesome! 

Hopefully my crazy label names/changes aren't too cheezy.  It was kind of fun to play around with them.

This block was painted with the navy blue paint.

All the labels were modeled after actual name brand boxes.  My hope was that they would add to the kids excitement and imagination in their play kitchens by looking real.  What I am missing is side labels, but there was no way I had time for that this week :0)  Maybe next week (te-hee).

The butter was a tricky label to put on.  I folded the label on the crease lines before putting any modge podge on the block.  Make sure to start with the center section, fold on the lines, then put it around the block to check the fit.  Next, fold the free sides down around the block, and crease label on the corners.  Make sure it fits the way you want, then apply the modge podge and smooth each segment down.  On the bottom, be sure to apply modge podge directly to the loose flap of the label that overlaps the other label edge.  You want them to stick together and putting the glue on the block of wood alone won't work with an overlap.   Make sence???  Probably not until you are actually doing it :0)  If not, email me and I can walk you through it again.

Macaroni and cheese.  What play kitchen would be complete without it.  This box is a little big, not quite to scale with the other pieces, but I was trying to make the wood cutting easy.  Plus, mac and cheese is the biggest staple in most kid's diets, right?  Why not make it bigger :0)

Aggo Waffles.  OK, so that name is a bit of a stretch.  Occasionally I ended up with a blank stare when trying to name some of this stuff.  Aggo was the best I could come up with at that moment without using the actual name.  

When you are picking your paint for this one, notice that the yellow on the label came out a little green.  You could almost go with a yellowy-green instead of yellow.  You could even skip the trauma and just paint the block red to match the top.  Your choice!

Lasagna.  Making this label made me want to eat lasagna.  Funnier still, I think the kids were watching Garfield in the other room and we all know how much he loves lasagna!  I think the whole family ended up with Lasagna on the brain. 

Funny story :0)  OK, maybe not quite funny, but it is a story... I made one set of labels, sent them to Office Max to be printed.  When I got home, the 3/8" I thought I left around the labels ended up more like 1/2" or something-ie, half the labels were too small for their blocks!  I resized them and sent them back over to be printed again.  The effort was well worth the time.  The bigger labels were perfect.  In the end though, I decided to go ahead and use the small labels on the back side of the food so it could be two-sided.  I didn't notice until I was cropping my photos that I photographed the wrong side of this box and the next.  Ooops!  When you print your labels for these two boxes they are already bigger, I promise!  That is another thing.  You may just want to print two copies and put labels on both sides of your food.  It will be worth the extra $2  I am sure of it!!!

I so love this box!  Because it is out of thinner wood than the rest, it really looks like a pizza box.  Love it.  Even if the photo I used is of a stuffed crust pizza and the brand I modeled the label after has never made a stuffed crust pizza in their lives.  Oh well.  It's looks yummy anyway, right?  I think I am getting hungry again looking at all of these photos :0)

OK, here are the shaped pieces.  This is the bottom of the egg carton.  I was very proud of myself (can you tell) that I was able to cut that on my band saw.  One day I will get back up there on that clippy horse again and buy myself a router and table.  A router can probably do that...I think?  Anyway, I am still proud of myself :oD  

I wanted to use 4x4 wood for the milk carton and cut the top like the little cartons they give the kids at school.  For the life of me I couldn't find one scrap of 4x4 in my garage.  I couldn't stomach buying a whole board when I only needed 5-6" so I decided to go for a squashed gallon jug :0)  I think the shape came out well.  Both of these, the milk and the eggs, and the ranch from below are all painted Light Ivory.

I so love these little guys!  You are looking at another crazy idea I have had in my head for months not brave enough to try it...or was it 'cause I never had a free minute to just make play food?  Whatever the case, with my new band saw I can cut 2" wood like a breeze.  The tricky part of these bottles is to get any kind of a curve on the edge.  I had to trim the corners off at crazy angles, sand them all down and like the mustard bottle lid, cut away chunks of wood to shape the lumber into bottles.  It was tough, but I did it!!!  They are just so darling!  

I really wish I could offer these at Super Saturday.  They would be so fun!  I just know that I would be cutting wood out in my 110 degree garage for weeks, not days, and I simply can't commit to that kind of project with all the others we are going to do.  Maybe we can make them for a craft club...hmmm...

Alright, there you have it.  The Wooden PlayFood project that has dominated my week.  I started four other projects today.  We shall see if I can get them all finished by Sunday when the samples are due.  Ugggh.  Wish me luck.  I will be back to show you the other ideas I came up with so check back!

If you want the original files, they can be downloaded HERE from Dropbox :0)

ONE Week in Kenya

I wanted tell you about a great thing that is happening this next week.  TheMotherhood.com has teamed up with ONE, an organization raising awareness of the devastating conditions that exist in Africa, and they are hitting the streets of Africa with 10 mom bloggers to give you a first hand look at what is going on over there.  For "ONE" Week, they will be learning, in intense, hands-on ways, about issues that women in Africa - especially moms - face.  You can sign up and also read daily updates from the ground in Kenya at ONE's website.

You can also follow personal posts and updates about the trip at the "ONE Mom Can Make A Difference" Circle in TheMotherhood.com, now and during the trip, July 23-30.

Here is the description of the week long event from the ONE website:

"African women are leading a movement. They are the driving force behind Africa's economy, and mothers in particular have an enormous impact on the future of Africa. ONE Week is a week long social media event following 10 bloggers making their way through Kenya with ONE from July 23rd-30th to see what life is really like for moms in the developing world. We know not everyone can go to Africa, but through daily email updates straight from these moms, daily actions tied to their trips and access to experts who can explain the key issues these women will see firsthand, you can follow their journey and share this information with your community - for ONE week. Together we can shine a spotlight on the success and challenges that accompany the fight to end extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. Get educated, engaged, and activated. Use your voice on behalf of the world's poorest. It just takes ONE mom."

If you get the chance, follow along the amazing trek of these fellow moms as they discover and learn how to make a difference.

Wooden Play Food

This set of Wooden Play Food is the big project I have been working on every sleepy moment I have had.  I have wanted to make these for FOREVER.  Granted, you can buy play food in the store, but how much more fun is it knowing you made it yourself.  There is something charming about it.

This is Super Saturday idea #3.

I took name brand packages and re-produced each and every label myself.  I learned a ton about my digital editing program, StoryBook Creator by Creative Memories-LOVE IT!!!  The project really was so fun to work on and worth every minute.  I did my typical thing of sending these over to Office Max via Email and had them print them out in color on cardstock.  

Now all I have to do is get my blocks painted and modge podge the labels on.

Here are my directions to you if you want to use these labels-and you are totally welcome to :0)

Download the label files HERE with Dropbox.

Once they are printed, just trim them to the colored part and they should be sized ready to use.

I will be back to show you the finished product and to give you the exact sizes of wooden blocks you will need.  I used a mixture of 1x4's, 2x3's, 2x4's, and 2x6's, but they are all just straight cuts so a plate of cookies to the guy at Home Depot will probably make things happen for ya :0)  

See you tomorrow!

Birthday Blocks

This design is not mine, but just another absolutely FABULOUS project I found at the Wood Connection in Salt Lake while on vacation.  It is my Super Saturday idea #2.  I have been working like a dog all the last week on #3 and will hopefully have that for you tomorrow, but until then, you can check this guy out!!!

The wood kit was for sale for something like $10.50, even the dowels included.  The vinyl was $6.75.  I had a gift to return so mine was a free exchange *SCORE*

I painted the blocks just like the store's sample: Lime green base, brown blocks.  I chose to paint instead of stain the "Happy" blocks brown.  I think it is easier myself, plus less messy and less stinky, but do what you like best.  

All that I had left to do was modge podge the papers to the blocks and glitter the balloons...and tie on the ribbons once the vinyl was in place.  All together this project took less than 2 hours and was a 2 on a 1-10 stress scale.

They have all the paint, papers, and ribbon for sale there in the store.  I failed to buy the ribbons they had in the sample and had to rummage through my endless bin of ribbon scraps instead.  Don't you just love how nothing in your own house is as cute as whatever the store chose to use :0)  We have that problem with Super Saturday too.  Inevitably there will be some paper or ribbon I can't find when the magical day arrives, so if I don't re-make the sample with my replacement items, groans of bewilderment will fill the air due to the change in adornment.  

Whatever the case, as always, I LOVE the Wood Connection in Salt Lake.  They have a website and a blog.  Last time I contacted them, they did ship some things, but I am not sure if they still offer shipping services.  If you will be in the area you can pick up you order, but be aware that they have special requests for large orders.  You can read more about making a large order for pick-up HERE. 

So, if you are interested in this kit, GIVE THE WOOD CONNECTION A CALL!!! or, if you live by me :0)  you can give me a call!!!!  Super Saturday will be in September and I CAN'T WAIT!