Chalk Heart Garland

Can a person really have too many heart garlands around her home?  And by a person I mean me....if I were to answer this honestly I would say I have gone a little heart crazy this February.   My sis has even accused me of going a little country this season, and well I guess I have, but I like to call my style Updated County, and I really hope you agree.

So this is it, I promise, my last Heart Garland Tutorial.  (It is a NO-SEW garland, perfect for those who do not own a sewing machine!)

Here are the steps I took to make this adorable, &  maybe a little country CHALK HEART GARLAND.

MATERIALS:

1.  Wooden Hearts

2 . Wire (I used 17 gauge wire)

3.  Chalk Paint

4.  Chalk Pens

5.  Wire Cutter

6.  Drill & Saftey Glasses

7.  Piece of scrap wood

* I found my wooden hearts at Michael's.  I used that new Michael's App. on my IPhone and saved 40% !  This app is free.  Download yours from the app. store today and start saving.

Drill a hole in the top of your heart.  Don't forget to wear your safety glasses (your welcome Uncle Robert! ((he is a safety expert)). I placed a scrap piece of wood under my heart so I do not drill through onto my table. 

Paint your heart with chalk board paint.  I did two coats of paint on each side, don't forget to spray the edges.  Let dry between coats of paint.  (I always wait for a nice day, & do this project outside).

  String your dry hearts together on a wire.  Any wire will work for this part of the project, I used electric fence wire, clearly something that was lying around my garage.  I spaced my hearts about 6-8 inches apart on the wire; twist the wire at the top of each heart to hold it in place. (The heart in this picture is wrong side up, you can see the residue from the Michael's sticker)

I chose to write a message on my hearts.  You can leave them blank, but I guess there would be no point in painting them with chalk paint.  We have a five year old that likes to point out letters;  so I thought it would be cute to include his initial and his brother's in our Valentine's display.  Therefore, A+R= J, C.

This garland looks great on a fireplace mantel, on a stair rail, or draped over a hutch.
Hope you enjoy this project!

Rebekah
p.s. If you havn't taken a look at Kandi's playroom you are missing out. She did an amazing job on a tiny budget. Tomorrow she will be sharing with us a love story of two chairs.

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p.s. If you havn't taken a look at Kandi's playroom you are missing out.  She did an amazing job on a tiny budget.  Tomorrow she will be sharing with us a love story of two chairs.

Mudroom Reveal

My mud room is finally finished!

                           



I love the way it turned out.  If you remember my budget for this room was $200; and I have to confess that I went a little over budget by about $50.  However, I was able to reuse many of the items in this room, which really helped me stay close to budget.  If you look closely, you will see that I kept the rug, one of the benches, a chair, coat rack, mirror, art, and a few other accessories. 

I don't think I have shared my before pictures with you.  So here they are.....plain white walls, miss matched furniture and lots of shoes!

Look at all that stuff!  I need storage!

View from the door, looking into my house

I wish this picture was not so blurry, but do you remember the buffet I purchase for $100?

My Mud Room Now.....

Wow! What a difference!

I placed a console and a chair on the left wall.  Now I have a place to set mail, keys and lets face it everything else. I am so glad I moved this chair next to the table.  I can now sit down and take off my shoes without walking across the room.  Baskets and vintage suitcases hold shoes and out of season items.  My large antique crock is the perfect place for my kids to throw their scarves and hats.  I find that if I make storage visible and easy for my kids they are more likely to put their things away than leave them on the floor!

View toward the door

Remember that $100 buffet?  It is amazing what a little paint can do!  Look at all that hidden storage!  This piece of furniture holds shoes, art supplies, hats, mittens, and so much more.  By far this was my biggest expense.  I spent $150 on this project.  (buffet + paint)

Coat hooks, bench and buffet (Sorry about the sun)

Chalk Heart Garland (I could not help myself, I had to do a little Valentine's Day decorating)
Hearts from Micheals, painted with chalkboard paint, wired together.   Idea from Pinterest.

Chalk painted hearts a + r = j & c

My hubby and my initials = our sons' initials....

I had the antique coat hooks and bench....but I need extra storage.  We are a shoeless home and tripping over my kids shoes every time I walk through this room drives me crazy!  So I needed a place for the kids to put their shoes.  These metal baskets from TJ Maxx are perfect and each child has their own bin. (metal baskets $8 each) I also bought a vintage sap pale for $6!  It is perfect for wet umbrellas.

So I have to confess I did not have time to make pillows for the bench, so I took a couple of my valentine's pillows home from Boudoir.  These are going back, and they are for sale....(but they do look pretty cute here on my bench.....)

I made this little cafe curtain from a single vintage pillow case. 

Look at the detail!  Beautiful!

a new place for mail

a little chalk paint can go a long way

Isn't it amazing what a little bit of paint, and rearranging the furniture can do for a room!  Before I was embarrassed to have people enter my house through my mud room.  Now I look for excuses to walk into this space.  I love it,  I know that if may not be as fancy as some of the mudrooms I see on Pinterest, but for a $250 budget, it is a space that makes me proud.  To recap; my $250 was spent on the buffet, wall paint (Behr Wheat Bread in an eggshell finish), and various accessories.  I hope this mudroom reveal encourages you to go out and make your spaces beautiful;  just because you don't have a large budget does not mean you can't make changes to your home that make you proud. 

Rebekah

p.s. We were in Hendersonville this past weekend, and I think Kandi is almost ready to reveal her family room. I can't wait to see the pictures.  You are not going to believe the transformation!

Here is where we link up!