Kitchen Chalkboard...

I have finally jumped on the "chalkboard paint bandwagon" and made a chalkboard for my kitchen. Just in case there is anyone out there who has not made one of these yet, here is how I made mine.

I've had this mirror for several years now. It has moved from house to house, and was cracked somewhere along the way. I always intended to replace the mirror, but never got around to it. Then, it dawned on me that I could paint it with chalkboard paint, AND since I have been wanting a chalkboard in my kitchen for a while now, this old mirror fit the bill perfectly! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

I liked the original color of the frame, but I didn't think it would work very well in my kitchen, so I decided to paint it an olive green. Since I was gonna paint over the mirror, I didn't bother with taping off the frame. I just went to town with the spray paint.

Then, as I was painting it , my hairline crack turned into a complete break and the mirror fell out of the middle. What now? I was gonna buy a new piece of glass for the center, but when I got prices, I found out since it was an odd shape and size it was rather expensive. That was obviously out, but my mother in law had the suggestion of using a really thin piece of wood. She had some on hand, and even got it cut to size for me.

Next I just put 3 coats of chalkboard spraypaint on it, letting each coat dry an hour or so. I had an old white shelf that I no longer use and painted it to match then put it to work holding my eraser and chalk.
I am already putting it to use, and the wood is working fine. The key was using a really smooth piece of wood. I actually used luan, which is typically a subfloor, but it was thin enough to fit in my frame without being too heavy.

Now back to the office for me. I am trying to turn it into my official craft room, and the mess in there right now is scary! I hope to have it all wrapped up by sometime next week to show you. Wish me luck!

Weight Watchers Wednesday Week 20

It is Weight Watchers Wednesday Week 20, and I am calling this week Wake Up Call Wednesday because that is exactly what I need, a wake up call to refocus. I have had a gain of 3 lbs. in the past 2 weeks. That means my total weight loss is 25.7 lbs. For those of you that have been following along with me on this journey, you know that I have been hovering at the 30 lbs. mark for weeks and a 3 lb. gain is my largest gain to date.

Last week we had a house full of company and I was rather discouraged at my gain, so I chose not to post. That was the first week I have missed a Weight Watchers Wed. post. It has been bothering me ever since because I was feeling like a quitter. (If you saw how I have been eating you would never know I was on Weight Watchers!) After talking to a friend about it, she reminded me that this weight didn't appear overnight, and it is gonna be a journey getting it off as well. I went back to my earlier posts from January and February, when I had just started this WWW stuff, and it reminded me why I made the decision to make my weight loss such a public affair. I wanted the accountability. I need the accountability to succeed. SO, here I am. Back a couple weeks later and a few pounds heavier, starting again. I am now planning my meals ahead, and writing down my food points in a journal just like I did in the beginning. Old habits die hard, and I am bound and determined to establish new ones for myself. In that mindset, here are 2 pictures from last week:

( I must want accountability if I am showing you a front and back picture!)

I exercised today, and am so sore I can barely move. I probably overdid it, but I was motivated so I thought I better not put it off. I am gonna start a walking regimine of 4 times a week. I would love to work towards a 5k run. I have always wanted to be a runner, but I HATE running. I just don't know if it is anything I could ever grow to enjoy, but I am considering it. I think a goal (i.e. a race on a certain date) would make me stick to an exercise regimine. I'm not really committed to this idea yet, but am seriously considering it.

A couple of weeks ago, someone left me a comment requesting tips and suggestions regarding Weight Watchers. I feel silly sharing tips since I just had a big gain, but in case you are still interested, here are some tips that I have found to work. I have them in my Weight Watchers journal and I got them from several sources. Mainly my WW leaders in the past.

1. DRINK WATER, lots of it. I have a hard time with this one. I prefer unsweet tea (sweetened with Splenda) and typically drink that. Diet sodas just don't do it for me.
2. You can break ANY habit in 21 days so if you treat your body right for 21 days, it will become a lifestyle change.
3. Set achievable goals.
4. When you are hungry try drinking water instead. Usually your body is trying to tell you that it is thirsty and not in need of food.
5. You have to eat! Starving yourself causes your body to retain water and store fat, your body thinks it is in a famine, so burns less fat. Eating is a key ingredient to weight loss.
6. Cravings typically last 5-8 minutes so when you want to eat something let that amount of time elapse before you eat anything you will regret later.
7. Everything in moderation...this is the whole basis of Weight Watchers! Eat what you want, but count it in your points.
8. It is ok to splurge once in a while, but it is key to get right back on your eating plan afterwards.
9. Buy a food scale and portion your food!
10. Write down your points. Don't just keep track in your head. You can look back on those lists later when you have a bad week and figure out what you did wrong. Also, it is great to keep for ideas when you get a little burned out.
11. Eat your veggies if you can. They are really low in points and fill you up.

I am not gonna share a recipe this week. I am gonna give you site that I visit often to get snack ideas. This link is to the 1 POINT SNACKS page. She also lists 2,3, and 4 point pages.

I hope all my WW buddies had a great week and I look forward to hearing from you!

Garden Party...

Kimba at A Soft Place to Land is having a garden party for everyone to link up their outdoor projects. I am so excited to join in because I have been working on several outdoor projects this summer. The bad thing is that it is raining here right now, so I can't get any pics of what we did last week, but here are a few of my favorites from the last month or so.

I always use a lot of sweet potato vine in my containers. It is very colorful and grows easily in SC. This is the wheelbarrow off the deck.
There are 2 of these on each side of my swing. The palms in the middle have not quite taken off yet, but they will be great in another month or so.
This is one of the 2 planters that are on each side of the driveway. A tall purplegrass in the middle with 2 sweet potato vines, and lantana.
I finally found an inexpensive rug for the back patio that we overhauled. I got it at World Market for $16.
In case you missed that makeover here is another before and after of it.

I have this lizard hook that I picked up at an antique store in Charleston. I hung this little metal planter on it and it is on the wall to the right in the picture above.

This is my chair planter that I made and it has really filled out nicely, but with the rain I can only show you this picture.
UPDATE: I got a new pic, so wanted to show you what miracles some fertilizer and water can work!

This is the planter that sits in my front flowerbed. I love how the red flowers look with the purple vines.
I got these triangular hanging baskets last year in Hilton Head, and they are still holding up well a year later. Lowe's carries something similar now.
This is my vinca vine in a planter in the backyard. I LOVE vinca vine because it is virtually impossible to kill. It comes back every year and is green almost year round here.
Now hop on over to Kimba's and check out everyone else's projects. I am sure there are some incredible gardens to see!

Staycation Re-cap...

I have been absent from the blogosphere for about a week now, and I have some serious catching up to do! I thought before I started seeing what everyone else was up to, that I would share some of the highlights from our family "Staycation" this past week.

We started our week off at the river. No place on Earth is as laid back as this little slice of Heaven, and we are fortunate enough to have a place there. While we waited on the guys to get back from Shark fishing, the boys and I did a little fishing off the bank. I didn't catch a thing, but I fish to relax. Catching something would just be a bonus to me!

Nana and Jerry have mopeds, so we took a ride. I was on the golf cart in front and took this picture. We laughed all night about having our own "Wild Hogs" biker group... but it would be a moped group... with a golf cart as the leader!

Now this is one tired boy. He fell asleep standing up, on the moped with Uncle Richard.

My sister's hubby is quite the handyman, so while they were here he helped me on several of my projects around the house. I will share those in later posts, but while we were working around the house, Nonnie and the boys played on our homemade waterslide.

We went to the aquarium one day. As always it was a lot of fun. We also ate some good seafood at the Charleston Crabhouse. Walker did a lot of the snuggling you see below with Aunt "Wewe" (Wendi).

Con loved the crabs at the aquarium. He tried and tried to figure out how to get through that glass and get to one.
We spent one evening on the farm.
But mostly, we stayed at the river. Here are Nana and Connor in the water.
Eating boiled peanuts...

And riding the jetskis. The guys and Wendi spent a ton of time on those things.

If we ride the river very long we get to the ocean. Saturday we all went to a beach off Edisto called Otter Island. It was a long ride, but so much fun. The boys loved driving the boat.

And Walker found a dead shark on the beach. He was so fascinated with it and carried it to show all of us. Gross, I know.
Con-Man had to take his turn toting it around.
A proper burial is only the right thing to do...
yeah right. They gave it to some other kids to carry around next. Needless to say on the ride back we were all sunburned and exausted. Here is Nana, Walker, Connor, and me (in the hooded cover up). Try not to let my white legs burn your eyes. When God was handing out the tanning gene he forgot to give me one. I'm as pale as it gets!

We decided to have a staycation instead of going on our regular trip to Hilton Head for many reasons, and in the end we were so glad we did. I realized time and time again this week how blessed I am to live where I do and have such a wonderful family. I hope you had a wonderful week too!

Quickest Re-do EVER!

It is Trash to Treasure Tuesday over at Reinvented, and I wanted to participate but with my "Staycation" this week, I have been enjoying my family and sightseeing in all my spare time. Hence, I am sharing one of the fastest makeovers I have ever done. I did this a few weeks ago in about 10 mins.

My mother in law gave me these chairs. They were left at the riverhouse when they purchased it. They are very heavy rodiron, and I thought all they needed was a little spraypaint.

I was right about that part. Two cans of Wal-Mart spray paint and they were good as new. The one thing I did not consider was the cushions. I already have a patio set and the cushions are still in good condition, but the print is discontinued, so I had to get something that would match khaki and olive green. This cushion was from Lowe's for $28, and a little too small.
I returned it and found these at Big Lots this week. They were $24 each, so still more than I wanted to spend, but they match the other cushions perfectly and since the chairs were free, I still feel good about it.
I am so excited my wheelbarrow is finally in full bloom too!

While my brother in law is here this week we have lots of little projects going on. I will share our progress next week.

Be sure to visit Reinvented to see some more Trash to Treasures!

My Favorite Paint Color...

Melissa at 320 Sycamore is hosting a Paint Party today where everyone is linking up and sharing their favorite paint colors. I have been so excited to share my "secret" paint color, until Melissa shared it a couple of days ago as one of her favorites. Well,the fact that Melissa likes it just proves how great Monroe Bisque by Benjamin Moore really is! It is that perfect gold-khaki-neutral that is just warm enough and can be used everywhere. I used it all over the house, along with Quincy Tan (also by Benjamin Moore.) Here are a few pictures...

From the Living Room to the foyer, I used Monroe Bisque on the walls, and Quincy Tan below the chair rail.

In the Kitchen, I used Quincy Tan above the cabinets, and Monroe Bisque on the walls.

In the Family Room in the back of the bookshelves:

Dining Room:
Hallway:

When we bought this house, I was trying to spend every penny wisely, so I had EVERYTHING painted these colors because I could buy it in bulk and save a ton of money. I knew I loved them and they were nuetral but warm. I have lived with it for almost a year now, and we still like it. I hope if you choose to try it that you will love it too!

Now head on over to Melissa's paint party and get some inspiration. I can't wait to see everyone else's paint choices.

Weight Watchers Wednesday, Week 18

It is Weight Watchers Wednesday, Week 18 and this week I lost 1 lb. for a running total of 28.7. This is nothing short of a miracle since I did not eat healthy or count my points. The only reason I can come up with is that is has been in the 90's here for days now, and I have been busy busy so a lot of sweating and no extra time for baking! I have also been sticking with my standard 3 point breakfast and a light lunch, so I guess that is paying off.

I am gonna be on family vacation next week, so the eating will be a challenge. We are actually gonna have a "staycation" and my parents and sister and brother in law are gonna come spend the week with us. We will be tourists in Charleston, Savannah, Edisto, and the River. I am sure it will be a lot of fun. My Mom will be around to make sure I exercise, she's an exercise NUT! I will probably have a huge loss knowing her.

This week's recipe is for a Frozen Strawberry drink. It is kind of like a slushy, and only 1 WW point. YUM!

Servings: 2
1 CUP FROZEN STRAWBERRIES

1/2 PKG. OF SUGAR FREE STRAWBERRY JELLO

1/2 TSP. OF LEMON JUICE

1/2 TSP. OF LIME JUICE

1 CUP OF DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/DIET SPRITE/ DIET 7UP/ OR STRAWBERRY WATER (CHOOSE ONLY 1)

BLEND ALL INGREDIENTS IN BLENDER & SERVE!

Delicious, refreshing, and only 30 calories. (I found this online a while back, but can't remember where. If this is your recipe, let me know and I will give credit due.) I hope all my WW buddies had a GREAT week!