Chalkboard Paint

I painted wine glasses for name labels, they are hand washable in the sink:

Chalkboard Paint Recipe

Ingredients: 
3 teaspoons acrylic paint [colour of choice]
1 1/2 teaspoons glazing medium [water based]
1/2 teaspoon powder tile grout [Not Sanded]

Instructions:
Mix together all of the ingredients listed above, blend really well and that's it. You now have chalkboard paint! You should only mix as much as you will need for your project. It doesn't keep well, but can be stored in an air tight container for a few hours. You should do several coats. Wooden surfaces work the best to paint onto!
After a longer period of time, the paint will begin to thicken a little and become a bit brittle.

Helpful Hints:
Apply your paint with a regular paint brush and allow each coat of paint to dry completely, before applying the next. After each coat of paint, gently sand the paint with a 400 grit or higher grit sandpaper and wipe away any dust. This will help keep your painted surface nice and smooth.

You also need to condition your chalkboard, once you have finished painting. Be sure your paint is completely dry. Place a piece of chalk on the side and rub over the entire chalkboard surface, covering the entire area with chalk. Using a felt cloth, wipe off the chalk you just applied. With a slightly damp cloth, wipe the chalkboard clean.

Now your chalkboard paint is ready!

Instant Ice Cream

Have a craving for ice cream? Well you can make instant homemade ice crew with three ingredients, rock salt, ice, and some ziplocs! I made mine with Big Red soda to give it some extra flavor! Here's how:

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it. (I added a cup of Big Red soda to make Big Red ice cream!)
Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Christmas Crazy Cam

Hello, I realize I've been out of commission for a little while, but as the holidays wind down, it will be easier to post things! For Christmas Eve, we always spend the day at my parents house with my mom's side of the family. With 15 of us in the house, it always gets crazy!! Also with two little ones, I started brainstorming ideas for Christmas day fun!!

Recently a lot of weddings have been featuring a crazy cam photo booth where people can put on silly things and take pictures. Well I thought, why not do the same thing with Christmas day?

It was actually a lot more simple than you would expect. I set my computer (macbook pro) on a bar stool facing a bench. I opened Photo Booth, on my computer (available on any Mac, iPad, or MacBook) and let people click the photo booth button themselves. Behind the bench, I hung a Christmas table cloth for a background. I set some santa hats on a side table nearby. I let people come by and take pictures of themselves and at the end of the day, we had memories that will last forever.

Using iPhoto I compiled the pictures into a slideshow, added some music and uploaded it to YouTube. Really simple if you have even the slightest bit of computer skill. Please message me if you want directions on how to do this!

Here is the link to my YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF95CUo1C04

Keeping it Calm

Just remember to keep calm!