additional chalkboard design

I knew it was only a matter of time before I redid my recent design.  It turned out cute, and more importantly it was finished.  Here's to a year of getting things done.  And I did.  But then I didn't like how much extra space there was on the top so I continued to look for some quotes that would fill the space more and found this; A mind stretched by new experiences can never go back to it's old dimensions. travel. learn. grow.

I'll continue to make changes but here's how it currently looks.

 

quick chalkboard project

Last weekend I found this cute mini chalkboard easel at World Market.  I wanted to use it to write quotes on in the kitchen.  It's going to be an on going work-in-progress, so this morning I used a white colored pencil to add the quote "and I think to myself what a wonderful world".  Now that I'm done, I realize that I should have started a little higher on the chalkboard but I'm not going to fix it!  I know right?!  This year is all about getting things done.  Usually I would have fixed it so many times trying to get it perfect that it would probably still be sitting there unfinished.  No more!  I'll fix it when it's time to add a new quote.  

It sits on one of the kitchen counters for now and the picture below is my planning beforehand. 












 

Reading

Just finished the book A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman yesterday and excited to be starting this new one, All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner.  Backman was a new author for me.  I previously finished reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry that I'd found at Target.  They were different from my usual selections but I wasn't disappointed!  I'm looking forward to starting the soon to be released Britt-Marie Was Here but until then I pulled out an old book I'd bought but never started.  I've read many Weiner books before so I'm sure I won't be disappointed!

Start and FINISH reading more books this year. Check. Or at least off to a good start! 

On a side note, it turned out to be a snow day today due to all our overnight snowfall which is what prompted this post.  I woke up as usual, ready for work, but ended up having some extra quiet time to read. Bonus!

Gallery Wall

I've spent hours looking through pictures of gallery walls on Pinterest.  Pinning hundreds of ideas.  Never actually following through with any of them though.
Fortunately, 2017 is a year of change.  Following through with ideas and plans instead of just having a dream.  
With that being said, I finished my version of a gallery wall.  It's still a work-in-progress but it makes my heart happy to see it up and at least started.
Here's what it looks like so far:

Eat Well & Travel Often.  I'm still looking for a different 'Travel Often' sign so this is just a temporary fix.
It's a bit hard to see, but behind the hanging light is a Washington clock as well as a picture that says 'Home is Where the Heart is'.

Here's a close-up of the map.  Another idea that I've wanted to finish but always hesitated to start.  A map with pins of where we've traveled.  It's a little D.I.Y. but I LOVE how it turned out! Just need to fill it up with more travels!

I'm so excited to start this project and know that it'll help to motivate finishing other projects around the house!  Cheers to following through and getting things done!

Happy 2017

Hello 2017.  With a new year it always seems there's a fresh start on the many things that weren't finished in the year before right?  It's actually been a couple years since I last posted and as you can probably guess, I'm going to try and do a better job at updating posts this year.  I'll try to be realistic and start with a new post once a month increasing towards once a week.  Too ambitious?  Maybe.  

Too much has happened since my last post to do a whole recap, so we'll just fast forward two years and into where I am now.  I've been making some positive changes that have already had a huge impact in the last 5 months.  I'll continue to use this as an outlet to share my many projects.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

So here has been the last 5 months in no particular order with a few projects that I've completed in between!

Project for the classroom.  My sister gave me her used IKEA chalkboard my nephews had outgrown.  With a little paint, voila!

Found this globe on clearance after graduation time at Target. Used the quote from my Erin Condren notebook and I keep it on my desk in the classroom.

 One of our hikes with the girlfriends.

Halloween night.  Went to a haunted house with friends.  Same haunted house we originally went to as seniors in high school 15 years ago.

 Canvas I finally finished.  Painted the background a couple summers ago and finally wrote a quote to finish the project.  We use it as a reminder in my classroom to be a whole body learner.

The hike we went on with the girlfriends in hopes to get a picture for our Christmas card this year.  This is the one we selected.  The Happiest of Holidays. 

Pictures from our hike.

The start of bullet journaling, or my take on it anyways. Just started tracking things today, January 1st!

To be filled with books read in 2017.

Might have a slight obsession with these Tieks ballet flats.  This is my 3rd pair, taupe.  Already trying to figure out which color to buy next.

January's monthly tracking page, for now.  I've already added a lot of other pages and figure that's how this journal will work.  Non-stop changes and additions.




Working on this year's Christmas cards collection cover.

Currently I've been re-decorating our dining area.  Well the whole house really.  Again, fresh start.  But I'm almost finished with a gallery wall area and can't wait to see the end result with our new table. I've always wanted to hang a map and pin the places we travel.  I finally finished getting everything I needed to complete the project!  Just need to hang it up.  In my next post I'll update with pictures of the re-dos.

Until then, here's some motivational words:

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.

Don't be afraid to fail.  Be afraid not to try.

Be patient.  Sometimes you have to go through the worst to get the best.

Cheers to 2017!