DIY Ruffle Skirt Tutorial…Yay or Nay

Okay, you’re going to have to comment on this one. Yes you. You who always reads my blog without ever commenting. I see you there trying to hide behind your screen.

Last week Mr.LessPinningMoreDoing and I were asked to perform a mambo for a fundraiser thing at our church. For the occasion, I made this skirt, along with multiple unfortunate facial expressions.

The ruffle skirt is made from 2 thrift store tablecloths, a scarf and an old stretchy t-shirt. {I blame my mother, the queen of costumes.} Since I was kind of making it in a hurry, I did not take any pictures during the process. Well, that and the fact that I just made it up as I went.

Your commenting assignment is this: Would you or would you not like me to post a tutorial for creating one? This would require making another in order to take pictures, so if nobody is interested, then I won’t bother. {Because what would I ever do with two?!} But if ya’ll are, I’m happy to do it.

Ready. Set. Vote.

Wanderlust Wednesday: Bonnie Scotland

What, did you think I would post on a Wednesday and forget about my wanderlusting? Not today, my friend!

I may or may not have mentioned this, but I’m a bit of a lover of The Amazing Race . Just a bit. Like I may or may not be counting down the days until my children are old enough to abandon for a month so Mr.LessPinningMoreDoing and I can start applying for the show.

Anywho, the most recent episode of the Race has renewed my long held desire to visit the realm of Bonnie Scotland. I thought I might have pinned a picture or two of the lovely country on my travel board, so I went scrolling through it. Yeah. I had pinned a picture or two. Enjoy!    {Clicking on a picture should take you to the pin.}

Loch Ness, Scotland

Isle of Skye, Scotland

The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye

Fairy Pools in the Cuilins, Scotland

Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh

Cave of Melody, Scotland

Balmoral Castle, Scotland

She’s a beautiful country, ain’t she?

Chalkboard Confessional

Okay, let me be clear about this. I have never been a fan of the whole put-chalkboard-paint-on-everything-that-will-hold-still-for-30-seconds trend. Can you say chalk dust overload?! Seeing as how I hate housework in the first place, I just can’t fathom why anyone would willingly add even MORE dust to their home.

HOWEVER.

I am a big lover of words. Especially words arranged in a powerful way. You know…like quotes…good poetry…inspiring scripture…the good stuff.

I also really love the look of brightly painted picture frames.

And at some point I kind of fell in love with the idea of having one really big chalkboard with a brightly colored frame where I could subliminally infuse my family’s minds with this good word stuff. ONE. And ONLY one.

So I set out on my journey to find a suitable big ol’ frame, which I found at a local thrift store. I cut an extra piece of particle board that we had to fit in the frame. {And by I, I mean my husband.}

I prepared the particle board by spraying it with some Rustoleum spray primer. I think I did 2 coats. Then I did about 3-4 coats of Rustoleum’s spray chalkboard paint in black. At this point, I swallowed my pride and admitted I was stupid for not sanding the particle board first. That stuff ain’t smooth, folks! I kind of thought the chalkboard paint would be thicker and kind of smooth things out a bit, but it’s not thicker than regular spray paint. Lesson learned.

So I let the paint dry for a couple of days until I could get back to it and pulled out my handy dandy sander and went to work. I think I was using 120 grit sandpaper on it. I went over it a few times until it was smooth *enough* for who it’s for {me} and called it good. It wasn’t perfect. As particle board, I don’t think it could be, but it would do.

Then back to painting I went. This time I didn’t prime it because it still had some paint/primer sticking to it and I’m lazy. I lightly layered on 4ish coats of chalkboard paint, alternating directions each time.

For the frame, I had to fill in one big gash with nail hole filler stuff and then I sprayed it with one light coat of primer. Then I put on 2 or 3 light layers of a Valspar spraypaint in a turquoise color. I’ve never used Valspar before, but I really liked it for the sprayer! My finger was not numb/sore afterward, which it usually is with the standard sprayers on Rustoleum’s cans. Overall, I was pretty impressed with it!

To attach the chalkboard to the frame, I used an epoxy that I found at Walmart. I don’t remember what it was called, but it seems to have done the job. Used a picture hanging kit to attach hanging wire to the back and put it up on the wall! Overall, it was a pretty simple and rewarding project.

Next to go will be those black plates. I definitely need something brighter and more smile inducing there, don’t you think?

*This was my inspiration for the Where The Wild Things Are quote shown on my chalkboard.

~So what trendy bandwagon have you jumped on that you swore you wouldn’t? Share in the comments! I LOVE comments!~