DIY outdoor chalk board for kids

Sidewalk chalking is a big thing here in the USA, more so than in the UK, and my girls love it as much as the next.  I'm happy for them to scrawl all over pavements in the park but not so happy to step out of our back door and see their 'art'. I put it down to the neat freak in me and the lack of rain here which means you are stuck with said 'art' for weeks (unless of course you bother to hose it off!).

I decided to make a chalk board for the girls to scrawl/doodle/draw on until their hearts are content with the added bonus of covering up our dilapidated fence.

Darn easy project if you've got a fence to hide and/or artistic children:-)

Materials:

1. Sheet of regular plywood - ours is a massive 8ft x 4ft which is the width between fence posts so easier to secure.  HD or Lowes will cut to size for you. 
2. Chalk board paint.  I got mind from Lowes and just under $10 for the tin (I used all of it for our board).
3. Primer. I used some I had left over which was actually white.
4. Screws to attach to fence. We added a baton of 2x4 across the top for added strength as its so wide.
5. Bucket of chalk

One coat of primer, 3 coats of chalkboard paint, one evening of taking the fence apart then rebuilding (not my idea!) and we have a chalkboard.

Beautiful bucket of chalk. Looked like this for about 1 day...

Fortunately we've had a few cooler weeks (low 30's) so they have been able to use it.  I think I'll invest in a sail shade to rig up so they can use it more in the summer.  Although when its too cool for the pool it will be a welcome garden activity.

Are your kids chalk fans? Get making a board!

Polka dot party

Last years birthday party theme was the Octonauts, you can read about the party here.  This year we went dotty! Polka dotty to be precise, or poke her (said with posh English accent) dotty as the birthday girl insisted on saying. 

The polka dot train started with the party bags.  Connie & I spent a happy morning stamping corks into paint and onto sandwich bags.

The polka dot cake was fun to make, with its polka dot cake pops inside. There are plenty of recipes out there on "how to" which I perused before starting this one. 
A kind school Mum lent me her cake pop machine, which is little bit like a waffle machine but it makes balls of cake.  I made up a two batches of my regular sponge cake mix then divided it into 5 portions to which I added radioactive food colouring. I ended up with extras; better over balled than under I thought.  Some of the cake balls (why are they called pops?!) were slightly brown on the surface from over greasing the machine.  It barely noticed in the finished cake.  Then when they were cooled I popped the pops in the freezer.

The next morning I set to work building the cake.  A thin layer of batter on the base of the tin then evenly spaced the pops on the surface, see below. Apologies for the bad photo.

Originally I made up double quantities of cake batter but that wasn't enough; a last minute panic mix of a third batch and the balls were covered. As was the kitchen...

My preferred frosting is buttercream icing which I then decorated with lovely Smarties.   

The cake got a little squished at the park!

Pretty much every piece had a polka dot in it which went down well with the party goers!

The rest of the party food was polka dotted - dot sandwiches, crackers and dots of cheese, mini tomatoes, circular tortilla chips, cuties, sugar cookies with polka dot icing, oh and hula hoops. A great English crisp!

the birthday girl tucking in

If you don't know Oriental trading head over there for a browse; it is brilliant and reasonable! I got the plates, napkins, balloons & party bag toys from there.

Have you got a birthday party coming up? Come on, join us; its fun being dotty!