and the winner is...

I'm pleased to announce the winner of the first giveaway from Jar of Vintage Buttons is...

HEATHER W.!!!

She said:

I would love to have one of your chalkboards for my kitchen. I love to cook and entertain. When having friends over, I would write the menu selections for the evening. On a daily basis, I would likely write inspirational quotes to myself. I find a lot of power in quotes! Your chalkboard would be perfect for that!!!

Congratulations Heather! I hope you enjoy your new chalkboard!

No worries if you didn't win this giveaway because the Jar of Vintage Buttons Holiday Shop will be open November 8th on etsy.com so you can snag your very own chalkboard and some other super fun stuff.

There are more giveaways lined up and some fun DIY projects coming your way!

giveaway {framed chalkboard}

We finally made it to 150 friends on Facebook so let the fun begin!!!! Here are all the details for entering the giveaway for a 16x20 framed chalkboard of your very own in one of the following colors: white, red, orange or pink!) It's easy to enter, so here's how you do it:

1. For one (1) entry, leave me a comment on this post and tell me what you'll do with the chalkboard if you win it. MAKE SURE I have an email address so I can get ahold of the winner for shipping details!
2. For an additional entry, sign up to follow Jar of Vintage Buttons (the button is on the left hand side of this blog). If you already do follow this blog, make sure you tell me that in your comment and I'll be sure to count it!

The contest begins NOW and will end at 9:00 pm EST on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Every entry will be numbered and the number will be chosen using random.org. A maximum of 2 entries PER person. The winner will be announced on Thursday, October 28, 2010!

Good luck!!!!

strike a pose

Last Sunday I had the honor of styling a little photo shoot for an incredibly talented BFF of mine. She has been hard at work creating the most fabulous jewels for the relaunch of her etsy site. Kate's photographer and another dear friend of mine, Vonnie of Lala Photo Spot worked her camera magic and really captured the jewels in all of their delicious glory. I wanted to share the preview of the photo shoot from Vonnie's blog. She was also kind enough to take a few shots of some chalkboards that I've been working on for my own etsy site. Stay tuned for the launch of Jar of Vintage Buttons holiday shop and the relaunch of Misty's etsy site!

Check out the photo shoot here and leave Vonnie and Misty some comment love!

Also we are only 7 LIKES away on Facebook from the first giveaway on Jar of Vintage Buttons! As soon as we hit the 150 friends mark, I'll post instructions on how to enter the giveaway for your very own framed chalkboard! I have some other insanely awesome giveaways lined up so make sure you check us out of Facebook!

CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK!

decisions, decisions

We finally made it to the design center today to pick out colors for the siding, countertops, flooring and carpet for our new house. Since we are planning on doing a lot of "vintaging" up our brand new house, we went with a lot of stock options since we are going to replace a lot of things soon. There were still a lot of overwhelming choices, thank goodness Joey and I are on the same page on a lot of things. Here's a quick peek of our trip!

The Design Center

Siding colors (yellow over most of the house, with gray accents on the shake style shingles on the top of our house)

Master bath tile with countertop

Cabinet choice with kitchen countertop (not at all what I had in mind, but a little bit of paint will take care of that ;)

even more new and improved

I've decided to take the big leap! Jar of Vintage Buttons is moving on up and moving on over to Facebook! I'll still post here and link up to Facebook, so no worries, I'm not leaving! I've got some big plans for both my blog and my Facebook page.

Some things to be on the look out for:

1. GIVEAWAYS!!!!! Yea!!!! Who doesn't love free stuff :) Keep checking for details and directions on how to enter
2. The Jar of Vintage Buttons Christmas Gift Store will be open soon!!!! I'm always willing to share my DIYs with you, but for those friends who don't have the time to be crafty, I'll be offering up some of my DIY projects for purchase for very unique gifts this holiday season
3. Be sure to check back for guest posts and inspirations from some of my favorite artists and crafters

I'm so excited to get started! And for those of you who are already following along with my house journey, hopefully we'll be moving forward with the house building soon. Our contract with our realtors expires soon and we are going to give the ol' For Sale by Owner a whirl in a few weeks.

Come on over to visit on Facebook and sit and stay awhile!

DIY: framed chalkboard

I finally found a spare minute this past weekend to get into the garage and start working on all of my projects that have been piling up this summer. So with my spray paint gun in hand I got to work. My first project from my pile of goodies that I picked up this summer at the 127 sale is a framed chalkboard. It's another quick and easy project and coming in under $7 a steal! I saw some other framed chalkboards at the Country Living Fair for upwards of $60 and $70! Do a little scouring at your local Goodwill or thrift store and search for good wooden ornate frames in any shape.

Supplies:

frame

plywood or mdf board

primer

chalkboard spray paint

spray paint for the frame

staple gun

Step 1: Remove any ugly, misfortunate print that your frame may contain (I wish I had a picture of the print that was in this frame but it got pitched in a garage cleaning frenzy...it was epicly ugly)

Step 2: Clean the frame and make sure it's dry

Step 3: Spray the frame and let dry

Step 4: Cut your plywood or mdf board to fit inside the frame

Step 5: Prime the wood with white paint

Step 6: Spray several coats of the chalkboard spray paint onto the wood

Step 7: Let wood dry for 24 hours (per instructions on the back of the can)

Step 8: After the wood has dried for 24 hours, use your staple gun to hold your blackboard in place

Step 9: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over the whole chalkboard and wipe clean

Step 10: Your chalkboard is ready to go! Enjoy!

Country Living Fair

As a very devout Country Living reader I am surprised that it took me as long as it did to get to the Country Living Fair that is held in Columbus. But, this year my dear friend and fellow follower of Country Living extended the invite to me and so we began our journey. Off we headed up I-71 to Columbus and my little pregnant friend made the 2 hour trip with only one restroom break!

What's a road trip without total junk food for fuel?

We anxiously waited in line for the gates to open...

And off we went to explore!

How much fun to see some of the same exact people I read about in Country Living were live and in person manning their booths!!!! Truly awesome.

We mostly just admired the talents of the crafters and jotted down notes of ideas to try on our own. I came home with a few finds: an official Country Living Fair t-shirt, a delightful purple mason jar (diy project!) and these funny little seeds from India called putka pods that look like little pumpkins that had been scented. The best deal of the day at 3 scoops for $1!

Of course we ended our day with with lunch and the B-E-S-T ham sandwich wrap I've ever eaten. Country Living wouldn't have it any other way other than all together in a cute little boxed lunch.

The day was perfect! The weather was beautiful and even a little chilly. We have made a pact to make this an annual girl's day out. I can't wait to make the trek back to Columbus next year ready to do a little more shopping and soak up some more inspiration.