Wow! It has been way too long since I've updated anything around here. Life got pretty hectic there for a while!
I am so happy to be back to blogging though! And I've very excited to share the latest edition of "Make it Monday" with you all!
This latest creation was partially inspired by Pinterest and partially by my sister who just celebrated her birthday this weekend! Woo hoo! My sister is a big fan of crafty things as well as a big fan of wine. She usually plans some pretty unique birthday celebrations as well. One year, she asked all of her friends to bring a wine that somehow reminded them of her (I wish I had this idea first!). Afterwards, she used the empty bottles as display pieces on top of her kitchen cabinets. This year, she planed an Olympic themed party complete with events and strongly encouraged costumes. I was so bummed I missed it!
I wanted to celebrate my sister in a way that she would really enjoy. I knew I wanted to do something wine related, so I went to Pinterest and started searching around. I decided I would make a chalkboard wine bottle vase.
Here's how the project went down:
First I popped over to Plaza Arts to buy some chalkboard spray paint. I went with the Krylon brand and made sure it was black and not green! I also picked up a bottle of Cupcake's Cabernet Sauvignon (one of my sister's favorite types of wine).
Step 1: Peel the label off the bottle so the paint goes on smoothly.
Step 2: Spray 2-3 coats of pain on clean bottle. Make sure you do this somewhere you don't mind getting spray paint or lay down EXTRA newspaper... I under-estimated the power of the nozzle and spent about an hour scrubbing and praying the paint off of my mom's porch.
Step 3: Grab some chalk and get crafty... or so I thought. I waited a day before I wrote on the surface of the bottle. It's been my experience that I get too excited when I'm making something and end up messing up a base coat because it wasn't completely dry. I did not want to have that problem this time so I made sure to wait well past the recommended hour or so listed on the bottle.
Two things I learned while doing this: first, just because a can of spray paint says "chalkboard" on it does not automatically mean that you'll end up with a matte finish. Secondly, just because a can of spray paint says "chalkboard" on it does NOT mean chalk will work on it. What?!?
I was pretty bummed out when I went to write on the bottle. The chalk did not show up what so ever. And to make matters worse, some of the letters etched their way into the paint, scraping it up as I wrote.
Luckily, my oldest and all-knowing art-genius sister, suggested some pastels she had on hand. They worked, but smudged very easily and still a little hard to see.
The quote is one I found on my sister's Pinterest board that read "Success is liking who you are, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." It's a Maya Angelou quote and I thought it was so perfect for my sister! It fits her confident personality, her background in Literature, and celebrates who she is and how she lives her life.
While I wasn't thrilled with the ribbon selection for the bow (I think of these ideas way too last-minute to pull off a perfect execution), I was satisfied with the overall project. I like that my sister can enjoy her wine and then draw or write anything (as long as she uses pastels!) on the bottle and reuse it as a vase.
Cheers to the birthday girl!
Disclaimer: If you are inspired by this creation PLEASE consult more websites or crafting manuals before creating your own. I am a "big-picture" person and tend to miss very important minor details. I would hate to ruin something you are excited about because of an oversight on my part.
P.S. If you do try your hand at this idea and have more success than I do, please leave any suggestions, tips, obvious details I overlooked in the comment section so I can give it another go! Thanks!
