Pintresting Year

Ahhhhh, my all time favorite topic ever, Pinterest. It is such a resource of tons of ideas on how to do things better. As many of you know by now, and those connected to me on Pinterest, I have a slight Pinning problem. They say the first step to any problem, is admitting there is a problem, I have about 3,1XX "problems" on Pinterest that keep me moving forward. When I first was invited on to Pinterest, I was a tad overwhelmed. It was like getting tons of magazines in the mail all at once. I sat down and clicked through idea after idea and thought "How am I ever going to navigate this site. It's crafting overload!" It reminded me of that wonderfully thought provoking, and beautifully written movie "Night at the Roxbury". The main characters (played by Will Ferrell (Steve Butabi) and Chris Kattan (Doug Butabi))go into a club and Will Farrell (in the only way Mr Farrell can) says : "Oh hottie overload! Chris Katan turns to Will and says "Hey, you need to pace yourself". Will: (Counting) One, Two, Three: What's Up? One, Two, Three: What's up?"

Yeah, kinda like that but instead of said "hotties" it was pins. I had to learn to pace myself, and I'm still practicing restraint. I'd see a pin and on a board it went, until I went to a play date a few weeks later and was given some good natured ribbing for filling up the main board with pins. "I know when your up with Little B, Jelly. I get up in the morning and all I see is Jelly pins!" I have to admit, I had to laugh and the so truth is hard to ignore. I do fill up the main board, but I find so much stuff on there and many interesting blogs to follow. I Love it. Seriously!

So round about November last year, I had an idea. I was pinning and thought I had better do some of these pins or it's just glorified, albeit organized, hoarding. So I started small and did some crafts with the kids, then read about painting and painted the toy room. As I became more confident, I tried harder and harder things until I was reading directions and sewing, gluing and painting. I always try and be respectful and tag back to the original blog the idea came from and credit them for the idea. I also stand by the unwritten Pinterest code of ethics "I will not sell, repost or claim something to be mine, when it came from someone else." This goes for most crafting in general. I like to respect the original artist who thought up the idea and while they may have written out instructions for free, I give credit where credit is due.

My New Years resolution was to create from my boards everyday. But when I sat down and really thought about it, with two small children, that may prove impossible. So I decided that a craft a week was a great goal. So far, 4 weeks into the year and I am up to about 20 different pins I have completed. Not to shabby I'd say.

In that vein, here is my project for the kids. I wanted a nice, large magnet board for the kids to use while I'm in the kitchen. While our fridge does support magnets, I do have to scoot Miss A out of the way. And now that Little B is sitting up well on his own and can play with toys, I needed a way for all of us to be in the kitchen together but have the kids out of the way. Nothing says "trip to the ER" like a little one under foot and a stove with hot water, or a sharp knife for chopping up veggies. I knew which wall I wanted it on, I just needed an idea. So I loaded up my Pinterest on the computer and typed in Magnets. I scrolled through tons of listings for what to do with magnets until I saw it. The most beautiful twinkling tin of kid amusement ever!

Jennifer over at Nic and Kate had the best idea for a large drip pan turned into a magnet board for her kiddos. She rubber cemented letters on the metal surface and used it as an educational tool. I loved it and thought it was perfect for the kids. So I got in my car and headed to O'Rielly Auto Parts for a oil drip pan for the car. I wanted it to do double duty and had the idea to paint it with chalkboard paint. I looked at the prices for chalkboard paint and thought, there has to be a way to make the paint myself. So I away I went to the boards and found a tutorial on how to create your own chalkboard paint at home AND you could color it ANY COLOR!! Really?!?!?!?! Chalkboard paint that would compliment my decor, this I gotta try! I found the tutorial here and of course it just so happened to be on the guru of craftiness's website, the one and only Martha Stewart. Gotta love Martha!

When I bought the drip pan, I was warned it would be oily. I asked the man at O'Rielly's about the best way to get off the grease, and he suggested Dawn and water. He also asked how bad the leak in my car was and when I told him my plans, was impressed. The man at the auto parts store was on board with my new founded magnet freedom, Big B however, was skeptical.

Items needed:
Drip Pan (about $9.99 at most auto stores)
Sand grout
Paint
Dawn
Water
Chalk
Industrial hook and loop
Sandpaper

E-6000 adhesive ($5.99 at Jo-Ann or most craft stores)

We started off by washing the pan. I had a helper who was willing to do the labor.

Next we put hook and loop to the wall and positoned it at the top and bottom of the pan.

After I stuck the pan to the wall, I left it for a few minutes and went to put the kids in the bath tub. All of a sudden I heard a large crash. Apparently, the hook and loop wasn't as strong as I thought, so I put E-6000 adhesive onto the hook part and attached it to the wall again. This time, it stayed.

**Caution: this is a permanent adhesive. Because we own our home, a little damage to the walls isn't a big deal when we decide this is no longer useful. However if your in an apartment or don't want to damage your walls during removal, I am certain there maybe another option to hang the pan.

And it stayed! Then I mixed the grout and paint and made some chalkboard paint. 

I applied it with a sponge brush to the pan. I also had a little helper with this step as well.

We sanded it down and reapplied a second coat, sanded and I applied one more coat for good measure. I let it dry for 24 hours.

I then "primed" the new chalk board by rubbing chalk all over the pan and Voila! Metal chalkboard.

I think it's a hit with both kids and yes, Little B is wearing only his diaper yet again. I may need to buy some clothes for the kid, but until then, he and Miss A will happily play at the new center.

Thanks Pinterest!

I have some big plans for our massive playroom and I have some ideas to incorporate a set of three of these pans into the theme. That will be for another day and another blog post, I'm sure.

Mama Jelly