{DIY} chalkboard love.

when it comes to decorating our home, i'm sort of all over the place.

we have been in our home for more than four years, and i think each year i've changed it up drastically.

decorator adhd?

in the beginning of our home ownership days, i changed paint colors like it was my job.

the decor moved from random collections found on the shelves of homegoods to countless DIY projects that i never really even thought turned out worth a hoot. i would hang them up because i felt like i should, but after a few weeks, they would come down.

i made it a game.

sell something, use that cash, and redo a room.

and though, most of my past crafties are now recycled into something different, and most of them i didn't really ever like that much?  

creating something, with my own hands, for our home, is empowering.  

i'm not a very good cook, but when it comes to setting up our home i feel confident.

i get a rush of excitement when i have all my materials gathered and strung out all over the floor.

...

for the last few months, the wall behind our couch has been bare.

and, i was tired of making something that i didn't really end up liking, to fill the space.

i had a garage sale, sold a picnic table, and an old fire pit.

however, i wanted to use that money to buy patio furniture. and saltwater sandles.

i knew my budget to fill the wall space would require another, sighhhh, DIY project.

...

one evening last week, i stumbled upon ashleyann's blogpost.

"mr leif!" i said, "look at this chalkboard!"

"i'm gonna make it!  will you help me?"

and because he is so awesome.....5 minutes later, the three of us were off to home depot.

 cuz when momma wants to make somethin,

she doesn't wanna wait til tomorrow.

she'd rather stay up all night long and finish it.

 with the little daylight left, we cut the board, spraypainted it with chalkboard paint,

and framed it with 1x2's.

 i loved how ashleyann wallpapered her frames.

but i don't own any wallpaper, so i assumed fabric would work.  somehow.

and when i didn't really know how it would work, and was fearful i'd try to do something silly like hot glue it on and waste a bunch of fabric, knowing i wouldn't like it and rip it all off anyways?

i relied on the decorator's best friend.....spraypaint.

we just went with a white frame.  and i love it.  crisp. fresh. and clean.

mr leif did his thang with the hanging, and the leveling.

romes and i did our thang with twisting fabric pieces around twine so we could hang the board.

 and like every project i try to make, i have so many hiccups along the way.

even though i spent way to much time twisting a bunch of fabric, 

we decided it didn't really need to have the "hanging look"

we just screwed it into the wall.

and then i used the twine wrapped in fabric to make little flower embellishments :)

and the vases of fake flowers setting on the builtin shelves next to the couch?

i clipped them apart and hot glued a few up on the board too.

waa-lah.

{our chalkboard.  with a verse written to celebrate sweet jess's baby GIRL!!!!!!}

and let's keep it real.

this was my living room before 8am today.

i'm not even gonna show you what it looks like now

{because i'm too lazy to take another picture}

i'm so excited to keep changing up the chalkboard.

and really, i just love chalkboards in general.

watch out husband,

next will be accent walls in chalkboard.

bedroom walls in chalkboard.

exterior house, ALL IN CHALKBOARD.

kidding. duh.

...

we've been updating the living room chalkboard.

because, well, we all need good reminders :)