Be Still Chalkboard Tray and Winter Mantel

 I was going to title this post something like, "A 15-Minute Chalkboard Tray" but if you've ever attempted a quick DIY project you realize how it really goes down. You've never had a crafting session take way longer than you thought it would? Well, let me give you a behind the scenes look of how one of these blog posts really happens.

This is my winter mantel this year. Similar to last year's with a slight change. Remember, the mirror that used to be above the fireplace moved across the room to the piano. I really like the window that we put in its place but without the ORB frame, the bottom of the mantel feels a little too heavy. I thought maybe some chalkboard art on the window would balance things out.

I originally thought I'd paint something (a plaque or canvas, maybe) with chalkboard paint or buy a pre-made chalkboard and then draw my art on it. (Behind the scenes: Look around house for suitable thing to paint. No wood. Canvas on-hand is too big and too square. Hit craft store to no avail. Head to thrift store.) Yay for me, I found this tray for $3.

So now I have a tray. (BTS: Maybe I could paint it with chalkboard paint and be artistic. Hmm...spend several hours on Pinterest looking for chalkboard tutorials. Only problem, I'm not a great artist. I'm a good trace and copy person but I wasn't sure how that would work on a chalkboard. Decide it's too much work.) Since painting my own chalkboard seemed a bit ambitious, so I looked online for something pre-made. (BTS: Several hours=no luck) Since I couldn't find quite what I wanted, I figured I could design my own. On Pinterest I found some great pins with free chalkboard font suggestions. After I downloaded a bunch of them, I put this together in MS Publisher. (BTS: again after way longer than I thought it would take. True to form, it didn't turn out exactly like I pictured in my mind.)

To get the right size, I measured the tray and inserted a gray oval into my picture to make sure my text would fit.

 Bass printed it for me at work on 11x17 paper. I cut it out following the template line I had printed. (BTS: the tray wasn't a perfect Publisher circle. So now I'll have to paint the tray anyway to make sure the edges don't show through.)

So just to make sure the tray base wouldn't show around the edges of my print, I taped it off and spray painted it.

 

All painted! (BTS: the paint bled through the tape along the inside edge of the tray. I had to get out a paint brush to hand paint the edges too.)

(BTS: After even more trimming on the print...) I used my ATG to tape the sign onto the tray.

A good winter verse when the world outside is quiet and muffled with snow - Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God..."

The almost last step was to figure out how I was going to hang the tray on the window. Easy-peasy, use ribbon. (BTS: Do I have any ribbon that will work? Lots of ribbon that's too thin. Ribbon of a good width but all in the wrong color. I don't really want to have go to the craft store again. It's too cold to go out. And I don't want to have to pay $5 for a roll of ribbon when I only need 12ish inches. One more place to check... ooh, that could work. Now how do I attach the ribbon?) I used some duct tape from Bass's stash to attach the ribbon. It's on the back so it doesn't matter if it's ugly, right?

See those cute Jamberry wraps on my fingers? They're Feeling Festive and Gray and White Polka. :)

Super easy project -- done! (BTS: finally!)

And in place...

The other winter mantel change, sheet music pillar candles. This project really did only take a few minutes (after I went to the store to get candles, measured them, and cut the sheet music to size). The back of these look a little ugly too.

 But they're fine from the front. :)

Fonts used: Return to Sender, Chalk Hand Lettering Shaded, KG Eyes Wide Open, It Was a Good Day, Chalk Line Outline, and CK Holiday Spirit.

Linking up to some or all of these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming;
Monday: Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal; Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts; Thursday: It's Overflowing;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;
Categorically Crafting: Christmas at Someday Crafts; Christmas Spectacular at The Shabby Creek Cottage