What I Made Wednesday {The Chalkboard Project Part A}

When you find a huge steel plate, you've got to put it to work! This thing of beauty is strongly magnetized and measures 3 feet by 4 feet - it's HUGE! My dad made a gorgeous wooden frame around the steel plate and painted it using a white enamel. If enamel paint is still available today, it's the best choice for frames, baseboards, and moldings, insuring a smooth finish that's rock-hard.

We've had the framed steel plate for eons. Super Kiddo used to learn his A-B-C's using magnets and there was always plenty of space on it. Because it was so huge and heavy, I never mounted it to the wall so it just kinda hung out, leaning against the wall.

Super Kiddo is way beyond learning his A-B-C's now we're onto Algebra and writing novels so it's time to find a new purpose for this monstrosity of a board. You may recall, I moved my office into the basement (reveal coming soon) to give Super Hubby some desperately needed space to run his own business more efficiently. But, to make the space LOVD-worthy, it required a teensy bit of work.

The green you see is the tape. The purple is the glove.

I knew I was going to incorporate this board and the first thing that needed to be done is turn the steel plate into a chalkboard. Brilliant, right? So, today's W.I.M. Wednesday is Part 1 of a 2 Parter. Today, I'll share with you some basics of spray painting. It's not as easy and simple as one might think! There are certain laws of spray painting that need to be abided by if you want good results.

When outside temps don't cooperate, spray paint in the sun for better curing. See how the car is outside?

 Simple Tips When Spray Painting

1. Save yourself a lot of frustration and just go with the best spray paint out on the market today: Krylon. Although more expensive than other brands, it'll save you from having the nozzle clog up on you and insures a steady flow of paint. It's simply the best, and no, I was not paid by Krylon to say this, I've just tried the cheaper variety and am able to make the comparisons easily.

2. The key to perfect spray painting is the cleanliness of your surface. Personally, I do not believe in sanding down a surface. It creates way too much dust, it's icky, and I don't think it's necessary AS LONG AS you initially spray on a primer. Since I was planning to spray on chalkboard paint, I went with a primer in Black! Elementary, my dear.

3. Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake your spray can. Be sure to shake that baby for 2 whole minutes to get the best paint. These cans could have been sitting on the store shelf for months so you have to bring its contents back into one!

4. If you care about your lungs, wear a mask. I didn't and when I blew my nose the following morning, I blew out black mucus - disgusting, and think about what it did to my insides!

5. It's winter in Northeast Ohio where I live and there was no chance the temperature was going to get up to Krylon's recommended 50 degrees F. So, I waited for a sunny day, temps in the 40's, and made sure the board sat in the sun while I sprayed. It seemed to work.

6. Mask, mask, and mask the parts you do not want to get sprayed. Don't even have a little bit showing. The spray paint tends to find weaknesses in your taping and attacks at will. Painter's tape, either blue or green, works best to protect the frame from peeling once the tape is removed.

7. Spray paint your object outside! If you do spray in the garage, move your cars and anything else you don't want sprayed out! You don't notice it, but opportunity for over spray is possible. The paint particles are light enough to travel to places you don't want them to!

8. Wear gloves on the spraying hand. The nozzle tends to collect paint and your finger is the victim.

9. Never, never, never hold the can of spray paint in one place while spraying. If you do, you'll get runs and globs of paint in one area and that's just a serious mess. Keep moving the can from side to side and don't linger. Slow and steady wins the race!

10. After your first spray, wait a few minutes then spray again in the opposite direction. For example, if you sprayed side to side horizontally, spray side to side in the vertical direction after waiting for a couple of minutes. This goes for the primer as well as the chalkboard spray paint.

11. Abide by the dry times on the can. With chalkboard paint, you'll have to spray multiple times (at least twice) to get good coverage so make sure you have enough paint.

12. Spray about 5 inches away from the surface. I placed the board atop some saw horses so I didn't have to bend down the whole time and I could keep the proper distance.

13. Don't hold down the nozzle constantly. Spray in spurts to avoid clogging. Holding down the nozzle for 10 seconds at a time is a good rule of thumb.
 

14. Finally, once everything is dry, to get that antiqued, used effect on your chalkboard, take a piece of chalk and cover the entire board by chalking with the side of the chalk, then wipe down with a slightly damp cloth. That way it won't look so new!

15. If you have any paint left in the can, before storing, hold the can upside down and press the nozzle until no paint, just air, comes from the can. This will eliminate clogging and insure you can reuse the paint at a later date on another project.

Join me in the next coming weeks to see the unique way I mount this ginormous board and how it will add beauty to my office space, too!

If you're itching for some St. Patrick's Day crafts, check out this one from last year.
  

Elements of Happiness: Quack Like a Duck

I wrote this post awhile back expressing a truth (in my opinion) that happiness is one's own responsibility. That's nicely stated, but what does it really mean? If you agree to take the responsibility, then what? I've created a 6-part series exploring the key elements to being happy. The typed words illuminating from your screen will be simple, but the true illumination comes from putting those words into action. Making an effort may change your life, or it may be an entertaining spectacle of a subject I pretend to know something about.

Actually, my own journey has been one of discovering the meaning of true happiness for my own purpose and sanity. Happiness holds different meaning to different people, but I think the 6 elements I have chosen to focus on are universal in application. I hope you are able to take away something meaningful from the upcoming weeks.

Quack Like a Duck

The primary catalyst stealing away our happiness is when something doesn't go our way. We think people or situations should go a certain way, and when they don't we get upset and take offense. WE MUST STOP THE INSANITY! Recognize that disappointments are part of life and we control very little, especially where others are involved. We can accept this on a rational level, but what happens when our blood begins to boil when someone cuts us off on the highway, or when we fantasize about telling off the phone company because they increased the monthly rate for less service? We become irrational and emotions take over and we get our panties all in a twist! We can't help it, or can we?

For the sake of your own peace, you have got to STOP TAKING OFFENSE. We can learn a lot from those ducks on the pond. We've got to be like them in a sense that we have to let issues roll off our backs. And we do it, not because it's easy or because we're not upset, but because we need to finally recognize that the issue isn't as big as we think it is at that very moment, in the eye of the emotional storm. You've got to start letting things go; I can't put it in simpler terms than that. Mellow more and keep your peace. Shrug your shoulders and keep your peace. Don't take offense and keep your peace.

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it."

                                                                                                - Abraham Lincoln

It won't be easy. I was standing at the seafood counter at our grocery store waiting for the fish monger to come to the case from the backroom. Another woman walked right up to the case as he was walking out and he asked, "OK, who's next?" Before I could get a word out she immediately started telling him her order and I just stood there. Was my blood boiling? You betcha! Was I having horrible thoughts about this woman? You got it! But then, I stopped. Do you know what I said? You won't believe it. I said to myself, "God bless her for she knows not what she does." And you know what? She really didn't have a clue of those around her. Today, people rarely do. I know this because as she walked away she looked at me, almost startled to see me standing there, and said, "Oh, I thought you were already taken care of, sorry." 

See? 95% of the time, people rarely make an effort to upset you on purpose. Today, people just aren't that aware and, frankly, are too self-centered to be thinking how they can ruin your day. So, the next time you want to get upset, don't ruffle your feathers. Quack like a duck and let it roll off. Do this enough times and it becomes part of your nature. It becomes one element of your happiness.

I hope you join me each Tuesday and Thursday for the next 3 weeks for this special series: Elements of Happiness.

If you haven't already, leave a comment for History Channel's The Bible giveaway! Click here to enter.
 

   

Gratitude Journal Monday

The world doesn't owe us a thing. The relationship between us and Mother Earth is, at times, quite imbalanced. Yet, gifts continuously come from all around, through people and nature and life. How lucky we are to be living in such a luxurious time when clean, drinkable water runs from our tap anytime we thirst, or where warmth from a running furnace pulses air through the vents in every room keeping things comfy and cozy. Or, how about the freezer full of meat, ready to be cooked up for family meals around the kitchen table, if we'd only simply turn a knob on a stove (no firewood required). And even with all these riches, how is it possible to find complaint, fault, and longing for even more?

Society has come a long way, that is true. But with all our advancement, where has the gratitude gone? Ask 70% of the world's population, who lack these basics, how grateful they would be to have an infinite supply of clean, drinkable water, and you'll see gratitude and appreciation in its simplest form. Embarrassing for many, apathetic to most, enlightening to the very few.

Be the Enlightened. Please, join me in declaring some simple gratitude.

416. I am grateful for my winter boots that keep my feet warm and dry.
417. I am grateful for the swishing and sploshing of the washing machine, doing its job without my elbow grease, while I write this post today and do other things I enjoy.
418. I am grateful for Monday chores, finding quiet and peace and purpose in each activity.
419. I am grateful for clothes to wash, dishes to dry, and pans to put away; it means we're well-dressed and well-fed.
420. I am grateful for the full-blown sunshine burning away the clouds and illuminating blues, greens, and whites to its fullest intensity.

If you'd like to see my Gratitude Journal beginning, click here. I hope you'll join me, leave a Comment expressing some gratitude of your own today.

I'm particularly proud of my flower photo today:-) 
   

Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 84.

Goodbye to Super Hubby taking Kiddo to school almost every single day this week - what a treat and luxury.
Goodbye 2 more lost pounds; that makes a total of 4 pounds and 6 more to go.
Goodbye searching for the perfect coffee mug to hold my addiction, story to follow soon (thanks, Grammie).
Goodbye month of February - you were so sweet and loveable!
Goodbye spending some precious time visiting with my parents and wishing for more days like it.

Hello March - lion or lamb?
Hello "date night" with Kiddo, enjoying dinner at Abeulo's and attending the Middle School play, Grease. It is the word!
Hello popping in The DaVinci Code as I'm suddenly in the mood for some Conclave Conspiracy theories.
Hello sweet sister-in-law's birthday; I hope it's a nice one.
Hello anticipating an epic 10-part miniseries on The History Channel, with Executive Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey: The Bible. Click here to preview!

 

My Lesson Learned this week involves The Bible miniseries from The History Channel. The Bible is filled with so many life lessons and Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are taking Its teachings to a whole new level; a level more relatable to the youth of today. They are using media to portray many teachings that a person of today may have missed in their hustle-bustle lives. I have high expectations of this miniseries and look forward to learning more about living through the stories they have chosen to recapture on the small screen. My lesson learned is no matter how the Message is delivered, whether in a church, a book, or on a television screen, what's important is that the Message is received.

The History Channel writes:
"Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family! Where will YOU be 3.3.13?"

To celebrate, The History Channel is sponsoring a giveaway. All you have to do is visit this site, click here. You can take the Bible quiz, if you'd like, and you can see if you recognize the characters and stories The Bible plans to tell. The site is counting down to 3.3.13!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on my site sharing your Bible quiz results, your favorite Bible story or character, or just tell me what you're doing on 3.3.13. Enter as often as you'd like. Winners will be chosen by March 21, 2013.

What you can win: a copy of one of the official The Bible companion books! (Prize will be chosen randomly from the book titles below)
        A Story of God and All of Us (HARDCOVER)
        A Story of God and All of Us (REFLECTIONS)
        A Story of God and All of Us (YOUNG READERS)

Prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O.Boxes, please!

When leaving a comment, be sure to leave an e-mail so I may contact you, the winner!

Disclosure: I am working with History Channel in providing this Giveaway and History Channel has supplied the Prize materials for the winner.