Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring Top Sewalong 2012!

As I'm wrapping up my quarter teaching at the college, I don't have a lot of time to spare.  But with the Spring Top Sewalong starting last week, I just had to squeeze in some sewing time (thanks in large part to my husband for taking kid duty during the day!).  

Friday, March 23, 2012

Magnetic blackboard for the kitchen

With a large, open wall space between the kitchen and dining room, I had a vision of a large (2' x 5') blackboard on which to write notes, the week's dinners, to-do lists, etc.  But I also wanted it to be a magnetic board.  I had my heart set on it.  After fruitlessly looking online and in stores, I decided to make my own.  I had a vague idea how others did it (paint sheet metal with chalkboard paint), but I wasn't sure how to finish it with a frame.  No matter!  I started the project without a finalized plan when I found a pre-cut piece of galvanized sheet metal at our local hardware store.  It wasn't the exact size I wanted, but at 2' x 4' and no cutting involved, I was willing to adapt.  There were a few options of sheet metal in the store, and since I hadn't thought to bring a magnet, I wandered down to the kitchen aisle and grabbed magnets to make sure they stuck.