Summer Pinterest Challenge: Measuring Cup Organization from Tidbits from the Tremaynes

My third pin tried for the Summer Pinterest Challenge, and my third food-related pin. This one also helps with organization, though.

I found the inspiration for the idea at Tidbits from the Treymanes. Since I'm constantly losing measuring cups and spoons, and hate stacking them up, this sounded like a wonderful idea, so off to Lowe's I went to gather my supplies.

I bought some Valspar Chalkboard paint, 7/8" cup hooks, a cheapo doors and cabinets kit with roller, as well as a stick of trim, not shown here because it's 8 feet long. I already had painter's tape and some wood glue.

I also had this glorious little thing. My father calls it a key, but I don't know what the actual name is. They had them at the paint counter and they make opening paint cans super easy.

I then wiped down the cabinet door to remove any grease or dust, let it dry, and taped it with the painter's tape. I probably could have carefully painted and avoided using the tape, but where's the fun in that?

I needed about 3 coats for the chalkboard paint to cover completely and smoothly. Once it was painted over to my satisfaction, I removed the tape and let the door dry. This is where my "hindsight 20-20" moments begin. I maybe should have removed the cabinet door prior to the whole process. It really became apparent when I went to attach the trim.

Before starting the whole process, I had also measured and cut the trim to size and painted it with some white paint I had for my baseboards. I tried to use wood glue to attach the trim with the cabinet door still hanging up, and the trim just tried to slowly slide down the cabinet door. At that point, I chose to hunt down a screwdriver and take the cabinet door off and move the project to the table.

This is also when I realized that I don't have any kind of clamps, and the trim wouldn't stay down without some help. I decided to use a chip clip, then stacked some teacher editions and my husband's Warhammer 40k army bag to weigh down the trim. I let the whole thing dry overnight.

Once the glue was dry, I spaced out my measuring cups and spoons to make sure they'd all fit. I marked each hole with a pencil so I would know where to insert the cup hook.

Now, I used a bit of a strange method to get the hooks into the trim. A normal, patient person would have waited until her husband was home with his screwdriver to drill tiny guide holes. Instead, I decided the project would be completed RIGHT THEN and used a hammer and nail to create the guide holes. I only hit my fingers once.

After creating the guide holes, I then twisted the cup hooks into the holes.

Here's a view with all of the cup hooks in.

I then wrote out the measuring equivalents and cup measurements with a chalkboard marker I already had.

I then hung it back up. You can see the evidence of my missing cups.

The only issue I've noticed is that if my hands are a bit wet, the words wipe off a bit. I had to rewrite the 1 cup writing after a mishap with baking.

Pin Win: "It's My Special Day" Plate

Sometimes, your year throws some curve balls.  I completely intended to be an active blogger this year, but my caseload is a little heavy, and I would rather take a break than be overwhelmed and inconsistent.  Married life is also great, but hectic.  We bought a house in September, are trying to get pregnant, and recently had our basement flood.

With being so busy, I tend to get overly stressed and incredibly anxiety-ridden.  I've been struggling all year with keeping calm and on task, especially after stressful weeks.  I've tried all sorts of different things - pedicures, reading, baths, chiropractor, asking husband for backrubs - yet nothing had helped.  Then I thought back.  One of the things that best relieved my wedding planning stress was making my wedding party gifts (which reminds me - I never finished posting those!  I was pretty darn proud of the results) at the pottery painting place in town, Artful Designs.  I decided earlier on in the week to go there on Thursday or Friday night.  Well....the house flooded Wednesday, so Thursday was out to meet with the people drying out our basement.  So I headed to Artful Designs last night to paint.  But first, I had to consult Pinterest for some painting inspiration.  I happened upon the following plate design:


I decided it would be perfect for some stress relief.  My friends Meghann and Alex had a beautiful baby girl late last year, and I think that each child deserves some kind of special day plate, mug, cup, or bowl.  Off I went to Artful Designs to paint my plate.  Instead of the plain paint like they used in the original pin, I used the speckled paint.  I just love the look of it.  I used what I think was called Lime Lizard for the rim, Blizzard Blue for the background, and a speckled yellow for the star.  I then used bright kiwi for the spots and a dimensional paint for the writing and outlining.  I like how it looks before firing, and I will update this post at the end of the week, once it's done firing.  I also like that it's bright, festive colors, but not pink and purple.  I guess because I was so resistant to girly colors when I was little, that I always push that on gifts for little girls that I make or buy.

My plate, before firing

My plate, after firing

You might notice that this post's title begins with "Pin Win" - it's because I love the blog Pinstrosity, and when I saw that they were holding a contest, I decided that I would look around for some pins to try.