The North End Loft: chalkboard

Showing posts with label chalkboard. Show all posts

Jan 13, 2016

Winter Decor

Hello friends! I hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the new year!

Today, I'm sharing my post-holiday winter decor with pops of turquoise and white, inspired by our new ottoman from World Market. For my wintry look I wandered around the house one day after I packed up our holiday decorations and gathered up anything I could find that was white or turquoise and had a wintry "feel."

Then I just sprinkled it all around the living room.

My winter chalkboard was inspired by Barb's free printable over at The Everyday Home. I still think chalkboards are lots of fun, and I'm getting pretty good at drawing mine free-hand with all the practice I've had.

A big bag of Epsom's salts from the grocery store makes economical "snow" to put in glass jars with candles and for sprinkling on trays. The little white crackled bowl resting on a carved wooden stand was a gift years ago from my old friend and neighbor, Susan, a talented ceramics artist.

An extra furry pillow and cozy throw is tucked into the olive bucket. The block print folk art bear is by my daughter, Annie, who has a degree in illustration.

The "snowballs" are dollar store foam balls from my craft room.

My husband gifted me eight of Pottery Barn's beautiful bird plates this year for Christmas, and they were so pretty on our Christmas dinner table. I couldn't bear to put them away in a cupboard the next day, so I chose my favorite to display here for the rest of winter.

This is the first time I've decorated with so much turquoise. It's a strong color that doesn't take a lot to pop against a neutral backdrop. I'm loving this bright fun look for chasing away the dark cold days of winter.

Thanks so much for stopping in today to see what I've been up to around the cottage. I hope you stay warm and have a great day!

It's never too cold to party, so put on your mittens and let's get going!

Elizabeth & Co.

Cozy Little House

Our Home Away From Home

Savvy Southern Style

The Scoop

Share your Cup Thursday

Share Your Style Party
From My Front Porch To Yours
Rooted in Thyme
Share It One More Time
Inspiration Monday Party

Oct 9, 2014

Fall Potting Bench

Yesterday, I was out in the gorgeous fall air playing on my potting bench. Potting benches and autumn go together for me like ice cream and hot fudge. There's nothing better than a pumpkin or two sitting on a potting bench waiting to be carved into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, or a basketful of just-picked juicy apples ready for making caramel apples.

My husband made this potting bench for me last year out of pallets, and it's been so handy having it close to our little vegetable garden on the side of our house.

I brushed off the dirt, made a few quick and easy decorations for a fun fall display, and added some things from the garden shed.

My felt leaf banner embroidered last year was inspired by the talented Lisa at Lil Fish Studios.

Turquoise mason jars are topped with one of my prized thrift store finds, a set of heavy zinc lids. The wood tray is also a 75¢ thrift store find that was one of my first chalk painted projects. The apple cider label was simply printed onto card stock and taped onto the side of the tray.

The leaves haven't quite turned their fall colors here in Boise yet, so I picked these pretty colored ones off some inexpensive craft store stems.

My apple sign was painted by hand onto a piece of scrap wood. It was adapted from a cute sign with printable template shared by Cristina at Remodelando la Casa.

Remember my old faux painted milk can? It makes a perfect pumpkin perch.

Fall mums fill an old wooden crate.

My French Flower Pot is a galvanized bucket with a graphic from The Graphics Fairy transferred onto fabric.

When I searched my stash yesterday, I couldn't find a large picture frame for a chalk board, but I did have an old painted artist canvas I didn't want anymore. I have to say, it made the easiest and quickest chalk board I've ever made. I literally just slapped two coats of chalkboard paint on the top and sides with an old brush, let it dry a few hours, and primed it with chalk. Works great!

It was so fun decorating my fall potting bench. Wouldn't it make a great spot for serving a buffet for an autumn party? I better get busy carving those pumpkins and dipping those apples into caramel!

Enjoy another great fall day!

Let's Party!

Rooted In Thyme
The Charm Of Home
From My Front Porch To Yours
Anderson & Grant
French Country Cottage
Craftberry Bush
My Repurposed Life
The Cottage Market
One More Time Events
Elizabeth & Co.
The Inspiration Exchange

Sep 3, 2014

Summer Barn Dance Chalkboard Art

When I was thinking of summer art for my chalkboard earlier this summer, I tried to come up with something that would celebrate our new farmhouse decor.

Nothing is more symbolic of a farm than a barn, and what could be more fun in the summer than a good old barn dance?

I decided to hang this chalkboard in a little corner of the entryway between two windows, and use it to welcome visitors into our home.

Do you remember this old chair my husband's parents gave us that I painted a while back, upholstery and all? (You can find the before photos and the tutorial here.)

I brought this old dresser home from an antique store twenty years ago. It was primitively made by hand, and I love every single mark and scratch on it. You can still see the remnants of green paint someone before me stripped off to the original finish.

The dresser used to be in our bedroom, but I'm using it to hold table linens now.

The large tray is from Antique Farmhouse.

I think I'm the only blogger who shows a vignette with Reader's Digests that haven't been covered with beautiful paper or painted with an artistic faux process. (I think that's item #587 on my to-do list.)

I'm not sure if this is a brass sheep or a cow, but it was on the top of a 4H trophy I found at the thrift store. It's very solid and heavy.

The old Elvin Bishop song is one of my all-time favorites.

I bought this frame at a yard sale last summer for $5, and just painted the old scratched and faded fiberboard print inside it with black chalkboard paint. I've found that the store-bought black chalkboard paint holds up to repeated erasing with a wet rag better than my own homemade chalk paint. A complete tutorial for creating your own large chalkboard from a frame can be found here.

My SUMMER banner is card stock-reinforced burlap with the black letters transferred on using charcoal and then painted in by hand.

Bright flowers in antique bottles for a splash of summer color.

Autumn is just around the corner, but I'm squeezing every sweet moment left out of summer. I can close my eyes and still imagine the warm sun setting over a barn lit by fairy lights, full of laughter and dancing.

We're gonna party till the cows come home!

Let's take this party to:

Vintage Inspiration Party
Cozy Little House