DIY Birthday Chalkboard Tutorial

Ever since my post about Callie's first birthday party I have received a ton of questions about how I made her stats "chalkboard."  My sweet niece just turned one and her momma asked me to make a chalkboard for her, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make a tutorial to answer all of your questions! 

Here are the supplies you will need:

• Black foam core board (Can be found at Hobby Lobby or other craft supply shops)
• Metallic permanent markers (Max Pen UltraMark are the best and can be found at Walmart)
• Pencil
• Ruler or straight edge 
• Baby stats

The first step will be to find a font you want the name to be written in.  I free handed all of the letters and writing but if you are, shall we say, craft-challenged you can also just print out the letters using a computer, cut them and trace with a pencil.  Once you have picked the font use a straight edge to guide the writing and outline the letters in pencil.  **Note- do NOT use a lot of pressure when drawing with the pencil, you want the line to be barely visible.  If you make a mistake do NOT erase.  If you erase on the black board you'll be able to see a faded line from the eraser. (See picture below) I promise you won't be able to see the thin pencil mark mistakes once the board is complete.

After you've finished the outline take a marker and trace over the pencil lines.  This is a great time to add details, don't be afraid to make the lines more bold, you want the name to really stand out.

The second step would be to draw the scroll under the name.  It looks super complicated, but I promise if you just break it down step by step and draw each part as you go, it's not too difficult.  Follow the same steps as before, use a pencil to draw and then trace with the metallic marker. 

At this point go ahead and section off the areas where you will list the 1 year information.  I just used a straight edge and added a little decoration on the ends. 

 Now the fun begins.  Experiment with different fonts on the computer, type out what you want to write and then eyeball it as you use a straight edge to keep the words from looking crooked.  Don't forget to add fun details like flowers and pictures of the things you've written to add a little more to the board. 

That's all there is to it!  Make sure to allow a good chunk of time to make the board.  When I did Callie's I started a month in advance and just added details as I got the time.  If you do it right before the event you may get too fatigued to really do a good job and it will show in your work.  This whole thing should cost you less than $8.00 to make and it's permanent!  You can't beat that. 

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

This Life

Flipping through my feed on Instagram reminds me how blessed we truly are to get to lead this life.  This summer is whirling by quickly and with it, memories are being made and cherished.  Here's a little bit of our summer in pictures! 

I started, and finished a great book that challenged my faith and priorities. 

 

Callie has had lots of playtime with her cousins

C

We've enjoyed wonderful evenings with friends and family

 

 

 

Played guitar

 

 We celebrated a wonderful Father's Day.  Callie was dedicated to the church on her first Father's Day and this year we were blessed to attend her cousin, Kinsley's dedication!  Shame on me... I didn't get a single picture! How special for these girls to get to grow up in such a wonderful, Christian environment! The picture below is of Callie wearing her Daddy's first pair of boots and the caption was "With every step I take, I try so hard to walk in your shoes."

We celebrated the Fourth of July with incredible friends and family at my mom's AMAZING pool.  

 

Callie's first Fourth of July compared to her second... My what a year can do!  

 

And let's not forget all of the snuggle times, nap times and enjoying the let's-do-nothing-but-sit-on-our-butt times. 

There are so many pictures that I am leaving out, but this summer has been an absolute blast so far.  I'm thankful to still have a few weeks left and can't wait to see what's in store.  My wonderful (favorite) niece is turning ONE this weekend and I cannot wait to celebrate her life with our amazing family.  Having a best friend for a sister in law has turned out to be really incredible and I am so glad the girls will have each other to grow up with.  :) Here's the picture her momma used for the invites... I was honored she asked me to take them!  

The Dreaded Search for Childcare

The other night I woke up around 3 and couldn't go back to sleep once again {Maybe God is trying to tell me something}.  My heart started racing as the realization that it is July hit me. 

As blissfully happy as I've been staying at home with Callie this summer there has been a dull ache looming in the back of my mind.  Instantly I started freaking out about where we are going to take her for daycare {Unfortunately, our incredible, in-home daycare had to shut down last spring}, how I was going to manage the separation anxiety and actually get excited about work.  Panic struck my body and then I was reminded, stress and anxiety show a lack of faith in God.  I kept repeating over and over, I am faithful, I am faithful, I am faithful... I am faithful that God will provide childcare for our sweet girl, I am faithful that He will light a spark in my heart that will ignite my love for teaching so that I can get excited about work, I am faithful that He will hold my heart ever so tightly when I am forced to say goodbye to my baby every morning.  And then, I fell back to sleep. 

We still don't have childcare figured out for Callie and my heart is still dreading going back to work.  But you know what?  I am not anxiety stricken.  For that, I give thanks to God.  With that being said, ideally we would like to put Callie in an in-home environment for childcare or in a daycare that is lead by Christian principles.  There are a few leads but location seems to be a difficult thing to get around.  If you know of any great places, or even someone who is looking to fill a spot in their own home please let me know.  God has a place already prepared for her, I just need to find it now.  Any help would be much appreciated!  Besides, who wouldn't want this little angel 8 hours a day?! 

Strong God

Most of you know how deeply music speaks to me.  I'm that girl you see at the stop light singing at the top of her lungs, hands in the air; not a care in the world.   Well, this past week I heard a song that got me right away and ever since it has been blasting on my speakers. 

The first verse starts, "Father to the fatherless..."  Well- yeah, that got my attention.  I've said it now for many months how thankful I am to have the only true Father I'll ever need.  My dad is gone, and though he was a wonderful father, he was just my earthly one.  My heart and soul are complete in the arms of Christ and this song has become an anthem for me.  I literally SHOUT the chorus at the top of my lungs until I have no voice.  Seriously.  You may get sick of hearing me say it but good golly I love my God... I am so not worthy of His forgiveness, grace or love but I am incredibly thankful and joyful that I get to sing to Him and want every single person I know to get a glimpse of His awesomeness. 

This song is called "Strong God" sung by Meredith Andrews.  Go ahead, give it a listen, and once you've gotten it down shout it out at the top of your lungs.  I promise you'll feel amazing afterward.  ;) 

Click here to listen!

"Father to the fatherless Defender of the weak
Freedom for the prisoner we sing

This is God in His holy place
This is God clothed in love and strength

Sing out lift your voice and cry out
Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God
You're with us in the wilderness faithful to provide
Every breath and every step we see
Sing out lift your voice and cry out
Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God
Sing out raise your hands and shout out
Awesome is our strong God mighty is our God
There is no higher no
There is no greater no
There is none stronger than our God"

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Baby Changes

 The phrase "they grow up so fast" is one we hear more often than we'd like sometimes.  I remember holding my tiny little girl, fast asleep in my arms and hearing people tell me to cherish the moment, soak it up, before too long she'll be going off to college.  Ugh, it drove me batty.  I was a brand new mommy, of course I was soaking her up!!!  Well, guess what?  Now I'm the one saying it!  {slaps forehead}

Callie is now 13 months old and we cannot get over how quickly the months have passed.  I've said it before and I'll for sure say it again, but this goes by so quickly.  It's one of the reasons I am so happy we started this blog nearly 4 years ago.  On sleepless nights I can pull up the archives and read about all of the amazing moments from our lives, sometimes reliving something I had completely forgotten.  This next part is totally just for said record keeping's sake... For most of you this is the part you can just skip over :).

Our "Little Bird" {as we so affectionately call her thanks to this picture in the NICU} is pushing 19 pounds (finally) and walking like nobody's business!  Some of her favorite words are; Daddy, Momma, bye-bye, hi, puppy, moah (more), uhsis (what's this?), kickle kickle {in a high squeaky voice} (tickle-tickle), and open (she LOVES those plastic Easter eggs and every time she opens them we say "open"). 

She eats like a total champ, too!  Every morning she has her fresh oatmeal with purred banana/blueberries (and vitamins) along with a cup of milk. Lunch time usually consists of some type of lunch meat, fruit (usually grapes), cheese and crackers/bread and juice.  She gets a snack in the afternoon, yogurt or applesauce and dinner is whatever we are eating that night.  I stopped nursing just after she turned 13 months -that is a whole different blog post though - and we said goodbye to bottles at the same time. 

I'm pretty blessed to have such a good little girl on my hands.  She sleeps 10-12 hours a night, takes two naps a day (each at least 1-2 hours long) and plays SO well by herself.  There are moments, more so lately, that she wants to follow me around or just sit in my lap and I do my best to stop whatever it is I am doing and focus on her.  As I previously stated, it goes by so fast, and I don't want to miss an opportunity to let every part of her soak into my memory storage. 

From time to time, as part of my attempt to track her growth, I'll revisit old pictures of her and try to recreate them for comparison's sake.  It's REALLY cool to look back and see her changes and I urge all of you (who are in the same situation, or soon to be) to do this!  You will be so glad you did.

Recovering from a Downward Plunge on the Suicide Roller Coaster.

Losing a parent is terrible.  Losing a parent at a young age is even worse.  Losing a parent to suicide is utterly impossible.

It’s been two and a half years since I lost my dad and the roller coaster of emotions has not subsided.   I was dusting my nightstand the other day and in the process cleaned the memorial my mom had made after his death.  In the middle of cleaning I lost my breath and fell to my knees as tears streamed from my eyes.  The ache of missing him just doesn’t get any better.  

What’s really terrible is that I haven’t been to the mausoleum since last year.  There is something very heavy about going there.  It’s a beautiful place, really… But I cannot express to you how difficult it is to look up at a wall of tiny glass cubbies filled with ornate vases that are filled with burnt up bodies.  I’m terribly sorry if that is too morbid for you, but that is exactly what I think every time I go.  I see my dad’s urn way up high and think that complete strangers in this cold, strange place surround him… I guess there really is no happy place for someone’s body to lay to rest, but for some reason it’s just overwhelming to go.  

Now, I am a Christian and I firmly believe in heaven and hell, so I know that my dad’s soul is not in that tiny little box on the wall.  But there brings the debate that no one dares to utter out loud.  Heaven or hell?  My dad was the driving force behind my faith.  He taught me to love as Christ loves me, to forgive even when the person doesn’t deserve forgiveness, to give until there is nothing left to give and then give a little more, and to follow Christ with complete and total trust.  My dad was an amazing man of God.   His last words in his letter were, “God forgive me…”  That keeps me up at night.   I pray that He did.  The difficult part is that I don’t know.   I won’t get to have this question answered until I am called Home.  Will my daddy be standing behind those gates eagerly awaiting my arrival with open arms and tears running down his face?  Gosh, I hope so.  But the thought of him being nowhere in sight crushes my soul.  It’s a thought I battle daily. 

Callie is now walking, talking and becoming her own little person.  She makes me so proud.  So fulfilled.  Yet, every time I see her I think of him; how he always talked about getting his girl… Ugh.  He missed it by a year!!!   She doesn’t know any better, and her “Big Daddy” is an incredible grandfather… What she is missing from my dad she truly does get from him, but I still hurt for her.  No one should have to grow up without their grandpa.  Without ever even getting the chance to be held by him or hear him utter “I love you.” 

I play that day in my head over and over and over… It haunts me.  I’ve never written about it because I don’t want to bring that many people into pure devastation and pain.  Sometimes I wonder, if I wrote it all down, would it finally leave me alone?  Probably not.  And I’m too scared to relive it all just for the memory to grow stronger.  Yet another question that remains to be answered.  

Please don’t get me wrong; I am SO happy and content in my life.  Josh and Callie bring me a happiness that cannot be explained.  I adore my family and friends and have truly been blessed with a wonderful life.   But all of that doesn’t cancel out the pain that festers in my heart from losing my dad.  Unfortunately, this roller coaster is just recovering from a downward plunge {hence the melancholy tone of this post}, but the good news is that with every plunge comes the climb back to the top…. I’m just holding on for dear life hoping that the next drop isn’t as fast and deep as the last.

Fourth Of July Headbands!

I'm so excited to announce that my Etsy shop, Callie Marie Creations will be offering FREE SHIPPING on all Fourth of July headbands now through Wednesday!  Just take a moment to "like" us on Facebook and then send a message requesting the coupon code.  It's that easy!  Of course, Callie had to model our newest additions, maybe she should be getting a commission?  :)  Thanks for stopping by, and happy shopping! 

You can find all of these fancy little accessories on my Etsy shop here!