YHL Pinterest Challenge! DIY Menu Board Edition

Well, I have been LOVING YHL (Young House Love) for years, ever since we moved to Richmond and bought our house. I am finally going for it and taking part in one of their Pinterest Challenges! This one is the Winter Edition 2013. You can find their post and the link-up here.

The idea is that you have to make something that was inspired from something you pinned on Pinterest.

This was perfect timing, as I had this gross seen-better-days mirror that my dad got at my brother’s school’s community yard sale. I inherited it at the end of December or beginning of January.

Side note: See, my dad is a lover of yard sales. He doesn’t need anything going into these yard sales, but once he sees something, he knows he needs to have it. This year’s Chanukkah gifts included several of these finds, by the way.

He gave it to me, knowing my love of things that can be turned into something great. Still, I just could not get past the roses. Or the boxy shape. It was sooo not my style.

Then, my amazing neighbor gave me some direction: a menu board! I had pinned them as something that I would love to make, but I just didn’t make the connection. I instantly told Tim my idea. He liked the idea, but then we talked and realized that we had NO wall space left. Between pictures, paintings, my family birthday sign, and other fun items, we really had nowhere logical for it to go (except the bathroom, and I don’t think it would fit there).

So it sat. And sat. And gathered dust while it sat some more. Let’s just say, it has been sitting around the Doyle garage for a while.

Then, YHL posted this Pinterest Challenge, and I knew I just had to bite the bullet and make my menu board!

So, here is the inspiration pin:

Source: thecreativemama.com via Dory on Pinterest

Just as a reminder, here is what I started with:

Ok, so first step was to paint the mirror and inside with chalkboard paint. Why use chalkboard paint? Well, I have had it lying around, untouched, for about 4 years. I needed an excuse to crack it open.

After a long time of stirring and mixing (I probably shouldn’t have used the 4-year-old paint, but I was feeling cheap at the time), I was able to get one coat on the mirror and inside of the frame.

At first glance, it looked great! Then, you look up close and realize that you certainly do need another coat (or two) of paint.

Thankfully, that stuff dried really quickly, so I was able to get another coat of paint on pretty soon after the first coat. This is good, because I am an Impatient Nelly when it comes to my crafts. (Use your Veruca Salt voice: I want it done now!)

While I was waiting for it to dry, I decided to go ahead and get those roses out! In hindsight, I should have waited for the paint to dry first, but remember Impatient Nelly here. To do this, I needed to first smash the glass. I tried to be gentle at first.

Fast forward 20 taps later and a still-whole piece of glass. Time to let out some aggression.

Smash!

Of course, as I didn’t have anything covering this pane of glass(yes, my eyes and feet were protected), some glass did fly up. Some landed on my newly-painted chalkboard paint (before coat #2, so I was still able to get a smooth-ish finish), and some on the ground. Just a reminder that you may want to wear shoes in our garage for the next week or so.

Still waiting for the paint to dry here, so I smashed the other two panes (it was all actually one pane, but just in 3 parts)… this time covering them so all glass stayed in the roses. Then, I carefully removed the pieces of glass. Yes, there was glass all over those roses.

Oh darn, they had to go.

They were my least favorite thing about the whole original mirror, so I LOVED pulling them out one by one.

Once they were out, I had to pull their cardboard base out.

See my dirty hands? I love being messy when I paint!

Then, an UGH moment: styrofoam. So, I broke it and pulled it out.

This is why I dislike styrofoam.

Static-y pieces of leftover styrofoam. Ugh.

So, what’s a girl to do? Paint the inside with more chalkboard paint!

Not the neatest of my paint jobs, but it would do for now.

Once I applied the 2nd coat all over, I took a break for a couple of days until I could run to Thrill of the Hunt and pick up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Cue the angels singing

This was the first time I’ve used chalk paint, and I now know why people swear by it. It was expensive (about $30 for that one quart of paint), but with no sanding, priming, or any prep, I would happily pay that amount.

The first coat went on fine, but then it seemed to clump up together a bit. I would assume this is due to the waxy nature of the original wood.

Coat #2 went on much smoother, as if the base of the chalk paint allowed the paint to adhere better.

With the painting done, now I could focus on the details. And if you have read any of my recent (last 3 months) blog posts, you know that this means it is time for my SILHOUETTE CAMEO!!!

I took this opportunity to use the print-and-cut feature on the Silhouette. I had to make registration marks (so that once it was printed, the Silhouette would be able to recognize where it needed to cut) and the outline for the menu cards.

Then, I used the text feature to create text for the lettering. In order to print them, you can use the cut style button to make sure that the text is selected as “no cut.” Then, you just need to fill in the text with whatever color you want to use (black).

Then, we just lined up the food choices with the tags.

Ready? Print!

(No image here… sorry!)

Then, you just have to line the paper up on the cutting mat, have the Silhouette detect the registration marks, and you are ready to cut!

After I cut those items, we had to get the rest of the labels for the menu board.

Of course, they were done in vinyl! I used my favorite font EVER “Lobster 2.”

Skip ahead to the final look:

Not bad, right?

 

You can see all of the link-ups at Bower Power, The Remodeled Life, Decor and the Dog, and Young House Love.