Pinspired Again

Blast Pinterest! I tell you, my life was a lot simpler before it came into my life. I'm obsessed with checking in to see what's new, and once I click in, I can't leave until I get to the bottom of the pin page. 

In spite of my addiction, I have managed to try a couple of my pins.

Here's the first one.

Crackle Bookshelves by crazy shelves.blogspot.com

I came across this amazing bookshelf on Pinterest and it led me down the rabbit hole. I'm not lying. This was a pin that led to nowhere, and because I had to have it, I spent long minutes of my life trying to resuscitate it proper onto my Pinboard. Thanks to Google, finally I met with success.

But alas, I was not able to recreate this magic you see before you.

My skillz fell short.

I started with this unsuspecting little magnet board, which I love, but it has outgrown its intended use.

When I went back to work four years ago, I created this magnet board to keep the girls' schedules straight when I knew I would be forever and perpetually discombobulated. 

The magnet board worked like a charm too. I'm really sad to see it go, but since we're no longer using it, I decided to redo it, with the pinspiration above, and use it in my classroom.

Not exactly what I was going for. Here's what I think I did wrong. First of all, I was supposed to use latex paint for my colors, and I used acrylic paint. I was lazy and I didn't want to go out and buy six different colors of latex paint because, you know, money.

Since my paint wasn't latex, you can see the ridges where the colors meet up and it's not at all like it's supposed to look like. 

Which is this. Swoon.

What a letdown.

So I declare my attempt at recreating this pin a flop. A Pinflop.

Not to be foiled, I decided to approach the project another way. Since I knew I wasn't going to invest in vast amounts of gorgeous paint, I decided to sand down just the top surface of the frame to get rid of the ridges. 

Next I applied a very thick coat of Valspar's Weathered Crackle Glaze for round two.

After an hour, I applied a nice thick coat of a red latex paint. The trick with the Crackle Glaze is that you need a thick coat of paint over the top of it, but it cannot be overworked. If you try to brush it on the same spot more than once, it rolls off and makes a mess. Through trial and error, I learned to load up my brush and sort of roll the paint on thick in one stroke.

I really like how it turned out, even though it didn't live up to my initial Pinspiration vision.

I'm especially glad that I left the edges the way they were, so I have some of the bright colors coming through.

Those areas were small enough that you can't really see the flaws from my first go at it.

I guess the other thing I didn't mention was that I also turned the magnetic board into a chalkboard as well. It was my first time using chalkboard paint, and it was pretty easy to use. I'll definitely use it again.

I first tried the Crackle Glaze on this bookcase that I posted about last week. I learned a lot about how to use the Crackle Glaze on this project, so it's not the best example of the cool effect that's possible with the glaze.

I practiced some more with this little table that my computer tower and printer at school sit on.

I feel so special now with matchy matchy furniture in my classroom.

I even improved on my crackle skillz.

I also get Pinspiration in parenting techniques. There are quite a few examples of different kids wearing this shirt on Pinterest.

Imagine my unbridled glee when my girls began arguing like Cockfighting Parrots earlier this week. Here, finally, is my opportunity to whip out the Getting Along Shirt.

Many tears were shed (by Zoe Bug), many pictures were taken (by me), and many buttons were pushed (by Stinkerbell).

Zoe, with a tear stained and red face blowing snot, yelled "She won't cooperate! She's just flopping around like an extra appendage and she won't let me get my chores done!"

"Well, Sweetie, she kind of is an extra appendage. If you want to get out of the shirt, you have to work together and be pleasant with one another."

The tragic part is that Stinkerbell enjoyed every minute of it. She had Zoe captive for a button pushing extravaganza.

I think there will be therapy. Karma will get me in the Nursing Home one day, I know it.