Love Notes

My sister bought me this cute CB2 mini chalkboard as an engagement gift. It's perfect for writing love notes to my fiancee. We've already been using it to write notes back and forth. Especially since we get up at different times in the morning for work, it's a fun way to say "I love you," before breakfast.

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Color me Chalkboard

If you've read my blog for a while now, you know I'm obsessed with chalkboard paint...(see here, here, and here) Maybe it's the teacher in me, but having I love the idea of a chalkboard wall in a home, a flexible surface available for list making, doodling, drawing, you name it.

Cookie Magazine just announced Hudson Paint now carries colored chalkboard paint! The new line carries 24 fantastic colors including "Sweet 13" a.k.a. bright pink, and "Ocean Blue" among others. Now that I'm moving into my own house in less than a month (!!!) I may just have to find a wall to paint...chalkboard, of course!
via fiddlesticks and funny girls

Chalkies

As my high school friend and fellow blogger Sara of Miss Jane pointed out to me, I have a minor obsession with chalkboard accessories. Yes, yes, okay...I guess I do. But quite fitting for an elementary school teacher, don't you think?

In case you didn't know, chalkboards (the originals we grew up with), are becoming obsolete. There education community is in mad rush to update, replacing the old-fashioned black & green chalk variety with white boards or interactive technology boards. So in regards to chalkboards, I'll take what remaining goods I can get!! How about these apple chalkies, chalkboard stickers if you will - that you can cut and shape at your leisure. Darling! Thanks Sara for the great find!

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My Favorite Things - #3

Chalkboard paint! Random, I know, but I love this stuff!!...I have a colleague who painted an entire wall of her modern kitchen with black chalkboard paint, a bold statement perhaps, but it eventually served as the blank canvas to her artistically inclined sons who were constantly using it to scrawl out their latest ideas.

Once I am a home owner, I am undoubtedly adding this creative furnishing to a functional space. Ideally the kitchen, I love the image below where the gazpacho recipe is ever-so-conveniently written in chalk above the stove. The chalkboard paint just adds a little character to a familiar space.

image/cookinglite
image/meredith
image/ohdeedoh

Chalkin' it Up

Regardless of what type of party you're at, there is usually some sort of beverage tracking system in place. In college tracking typically appears in the form of sharpie'd names on keg cups or even a distinguishing beer cozy. Post college this may eventually morph - into the seemingly more mature - holiday charms on wine stems.

Until now.
Meet the chalkboard coaster.
Changing the way we drink, what will they think of next?

image/vitamindesignshop

Write That on the Chalkboard!

Who said chalkboards were just for school? (Actually, most schools don't even use chalkboards anymore, white boards are becoming the norm...). I was first introduced to this chalkboard-in-the-home concept a year or so ago, when I attended a bridal shower at a colleague's home. Her family I knew was artistically inclined, and to indulge their creative juices, they had painted an entire wall of the family kitchen, floor to ceiling with chalkboard paint. When we arrived for the party, the wall had been transformed into a lion's den. The wall was marked by a playful, full-maned lion, ready to pounce. It was such a personal touch to add to such a communal space, I immediately thought the idea was ingenious!

In addition to the art, was a small calendar, and day-to-day routine reminders, "buy eggs," "baseball practice at 3:30," allowing this wall to also act as a functional schedule. Martha Stewart echoes this idea, even giving some tips on how to make your own custom chalkboard paint. Try it in your home! image/marthastewart
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