A Kid's Chalk Board Table

A Kid's Chalk Board Table
by Brenda Hyde

Trash to treasure projects are rewarding, especially when the piece of furniture you are working on would have actually been thrown out! Our latest project was my husband's creative idea and it turned out great. He found an old coffee table in his dad's shed and had the idea to make a chalk board table for our kids.

The materials we used:

coffee table
wood putty
4 pastel acrylic paints-yellow, pink, blue and yellow
one can blackboard spray paint
Kilz acrylic primer
paint brushes
sandpaper or sander
regular black spray paint

Wash your table if it's dirty or dusty and allow it to dry. Take off the legs if they are removable. Use the wood putty to fill in any gouges or deep scratches. Allow to dry and sand. Wipe the table with a clean cloth to remove dust. Prime the entire table and the legs. After the primer dries, paint each leg a different pastel color. They will need two coats each. Allow them to dry between coats. (See tips below)

Turn the table top over so the bottom is up. Using the REGULAR black spray paint cover the bottom. Allow to dry and give it a second coat. Make sure it's completely dry. Place an old towel on your work surface and turn the table over so the top is face up. There are several brands of blackboard paint. Follow the directions and paint the top only of the table. They go on just like spray paint and our fairly easy to use. Spray evenly and make sure no one touches it until it's COMPLETELY dry. It takes longer than paint.

When the legs and table are completely dry, attach the legs back to the table. Most of the blackboard paints instruct a certain drying period of 1 or 2 days before using.

This such an easy and fun project. Our kids loved the table! If your kids are older they can even help with the project.

Working Tips

Sandpaper: A 4x6 inch piece of 2x4 wood works well for wrapping the sandpaper around the block and using this to sand rather than just the sandpaper itself. It will make it easier to sand evenly.

Painting: Take a scrap piece of wood (we used a piece of 4x4) and drill 4 holes in the wood spaced several inches apart. Screw in the 4 tables legs just enough for them to stand up. This worked great for painting the legs and allowing them to dry.

Fall Fun for the Entire Family

Before the fall leaves have turned brown, be sure to play with them:

-Make leaf rubbings. You'll need very fresh, moist tree leaves or other plant leaves, a hammer, and pieces of muslin. Lay your piece of muslin down on a piece of paper, taping it down around the edges with masking tape. Lay your leaf down on top of the piece of muslin, and place a thin piece of paper over top of it (scrap will do). Pound the leaf with the hammer evenly over the entire leaf. This will transfer the leaf shape and color to the piece of muslin, so make sure to pound it all! Afterwards, you can glue the muslin to a piece of cardboard-framing it with a colorful mat if you wish. Note: I like to put a piece of scrap wood under the paper and cloth before pounding just to make sure it doesn't leave marks on my counter or table.

-Chop your fall leaves up with the lawn mower and use as a free winter mulch for your flower beds and throw some in the compost pile if you have one.

-Stuff a scarecrow with leaves instead of straw. Tie off the ends of the shirt and pants with jute (twine), and make a head of plain muslin-stuff them very tightly and leave a few showing for a fun touch.

~Create centerpieces by lining wicker baskets with leaves and filling with gourds, pine cones and other seedpods, or place a mum plant in a basket and surround with leaves.

-Have the kids gather leaves, and they can make a big collage on a piece of poster board. This won't be a "keeper" art project, but they will have a great time collecting, designing and gluing the leaves. Hang it up for the season, be sure to take a picture for them too.
Slip in some educational fun by having them identify each leaf!

~Brenda

Fall Garden Tips

Any night now frost may blacken the last crotalarias,
zinnias, marigolds, and chrysanthemums. But, when
the dead branches have been cleared away, there will
still be the green of the ivy, the grey of santolina, and
the scarlet fruit of the firethorn. ~Elizabeth Lawrence

Fall is one of the best times to plant spring and summer blooming perennials, trees and shrubs. Choices are abundant, including astilbe, coral bells, daylilies, bee balm, coneflowers, sedum, black-eyed Susans, hostas, veronicas, peonies, astilbe, bleeding hearts, Joe-Pye weed, euphorbia and phlox, plus deciduous trees and shrubs that drop their leaves in the fall.

The weather is getting cooler, but there is still plenty of time for the roots to settle in before the hard freezes. Plant at the same level your perennials were at in the pot, and keep them watered on a regular basis until the ground is frozen. Mulch 2-4 inches deep for extra protection and prepare your soil before planting as you would a new garden bed. Dig it well and add some compost or organic fertilizer. The mulching will help keep the soil from repeated freezing and thawing. Finish up your fall planting 5-6 weeks before hard freezes. If you're worried about the plants, cover with newspaper, plastic or cloth overnight when it's especially cold. During the winter, check the soil for "heaving" which means the plant could raise up out of the soil. Gently push it back into place.

If you have perennials in pots you want to do a little preparation before the hard freezes. Plastic pots seem to work better than clay or ceramic because they tend to dry out slower and usually won't crack as easily. During the cold season, gather all the pots together in a protected area, but still in an outside location. Cover each potted plant with mulch. If you have a space up near the house or another building, that would work well. Continue to water as mentioned for other perennials.

Be cautious not to cut back your perennials too close in the fall, or you may damage next year's buds--never trim down to the surface. Also, fall is not a good time for pruning trees and shrubs. Leave as much growth as possible, and prune in the spring. When looking at your garden this fall, consider what new perennials you may want to add, and think about the winter garden as well. Leave dry, sturdy stalks and grasses alone and they will add a lovely touch when the snow covers them. Leave plants that you want to reseed, and also those the birds might enjoy during the cold weather.

Those of you in warm climates like Florida can plant a new garden when it cools down-consider pansies and cool weather vegetables. Southern Florida residents can plant annuals in December! Cold hardy vegetables for those in Zones 9, 10 and 11 include collars, kale, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips. Flowers that are cold hardy include cornflowers, ornamental cabbage, pansies, primroses, violets, bells of Ireland, calendula, coreopsis, rudbeckia, snapdragon, stock, and sweet peas.

~Enjoy the day. ~Brenda

Fall Garden Tips

Everyone must take time to sit and watch
the leaves turn. ~Elizabeth Lawrence




Before the onset of cold or cooler weather, you should clean your garden and landscape. It's better to do this now during the cool, refreshing days of fall, then wait for spring.

Look over all your trees and shrubs carefully and prune out the dead or diseased branches. They are easier to see while the healthy ones are green and flourishing. Be sure to give all of your trees and shrubs a good, deep watering before the first heavy frost.

Removing any diseased or insect-infested plants from your garden is very, very important. Take a Saturday or another day you have to spare and make a project of it. Either burn or discard these plants and other debris.

Cleaning carefully will give your plants a fresh start in the spring. Rake up leaves as well. It's also a great time to pick out any broken stakes, garden art, bricks, cracked pots,nursery tags etc. If it doesn't belong, get rid of it. You will appreciate this in the spring when you don't have to wade through soggy plant stems and muddy flower beds. Don't get too carried away with the chopping though. Some plants like sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, and ornamental grasses can be left for the birds to snack on. Some other plants like calendula, snapdragons, cosmos, gem marigolds and others can be allowed to reseed themselves if you leave the seed heads on the plants.

Many readers have concerns about tent worms this time of year. Every year we snip off the branches that have tent worms and throw them in a fire. They are harmless to us, but can cause damage to trees or shrubs. You can also use gloves and pull the "tents" off the trees or shrubs then dumb them in a bucket filled with water that you've added a little bleach and dish soap.