The Paradise Post

My mom finally realized her life dream this summer - she got a pool. We had an amazing summer of pool parties, chilling with friends and family, and having cook-outs by the water. It was a blast! Since my mom is the master entertainer, I decided to give her a gift that she could use for her pool parties. For her birthday this year, I made her an outdoor chalkboard for posting weather forecasts, menu items, and other pool-related announcements.

I started off with a chalkboard. I found it at (you guessed it!) a garage sale. Old and dingy...but just you wait.

Chalkboard - 50 cents

I taped the entire chalkboard surface to prep for painting. Next, I had to remove the old stickers and gunk. If you've never used Goo Gone before, you should! It works wonders I tell you!

Obviously, this bad boy needed some color! I decided on Caribbean blue, naturally. I love spray paint! WOO HOOOO!!!

I bought some wooden letters to make a title for the chalkboard. I wanted them to match the board perfectly, so I decided to spray paint these, too. Besides, I LOVE SPRAY PAINT. Of course, the perfect surface for painting is an old picture cardboard with the garage sale tag still attached.

Before

Caribbean Blue! 

Let's play Scrabble. How many words can you find?

Alright! The chalkboard is blue. Now, we need a fresh coat of chalkboard paint. I started off with a paintbrush, but ended up using a roller for better results. Chalkboard paint is peculiar - it looks like navy blue when it's wet.

 

Ahhh, what a difference a fresh coat of paint makes!

 Good as new.

Now for the fun part...decorating! First, I used a piece of scrap wood for the sign. I garbage picked this a while back...I just KNEW I could use it for something!

Wood - FREE!

I went back and forth about whether or not I would paint it. Eventually, I decided that I liked the look of the original wood finish.

The Paradise Post - gotta love alliteration. English nerds unite!

GLITTER!

If you know my mom, you know she LOVES GLITTER. I also re-painted a wooden shape to match the blue theme of the chalkboard. I've never seen a blue palm tree, but I like the thought of it! The original (shown above) was green. SO not as cool.

Next, I decided to make the eraser much prettier by Mod-Podging some scrapbook paper to it. I also had my loving husband drill a hole into it and attach a hook so that I could hang it from a string. I have yet to gain my confidence with power tools. After it was dry, I added some bling bling! Come on now - everything looks better with bling.

Eraser - $2.00 (from craft store)

Pretty Eraser

The rest of the supplies are from garage sales (DUH)! I bought the net, anchor, and starfish (plus two more starfish) all  for $1.00, and got the little bucket free from my sister's old dorm room. Random, I know. The string for the eraser was also from a garage sale. I purchased a whole spool of it for a quarter. Heck yeah!

The Finished Product

Net, Anchor and Starfish Decorations - $1.00 for all

Chalk Bucket - Free!

(I made it look "weathered" by rubbing on some brown acrylic paint)

"The Paradise Post" 

...and guess what?! She loved it! I'm so glad. Love ya, Mom!

Now, we'll just have to wait for summer...

Take Time for Lemonade,

Kris

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