DIY Friday – chalkboard clipboard

Before I dive into today’s DIY, I want to thank you guys for your words and support regarding Wednesday’s post. I stare at my blog every day, so sometimes I need a kick in the hole to remember how much I have managed to achieve here. At the same time, I’m attempting to step out of my comfort zone and start contacting people about projects. I’m happy at the rate I’m going, but I want to kick it all up a notch. I’d love to get into doing upcycling for reals, one piece at a time. And now I’m rambling. Onto the DIY! 


In June of last year I painted a blackboard shopping list in our kitchen. It was great, served its purpose well, and we get tons of use out of it but I always looked at it and thought it could do with being pimped out just a bit. I had a light bulb moment when I happened to bring my clipboard into the kitchen one day, and thought the marriage of the two would be a perfect focal point in our kitchen. And I will say, a painfully simple DIY … 

I took the above ‘before’ picture yesterday morning before work. It was only when I began editing the photos I realized I hadn’t erased what was on the chalkboard. Great. Toilet cleaner. Don’t panic, you can edit that out on Photoshop. But then I thought no, keep it real. Yes, we need toilet cleaner. If I edit it out, I might forget to get it when we go shopping. Maybe you need to get toilet cleaner this week too? Okay, enough about toilets. Onto the DIY.

What you’ll need – a clipboard, some masking tape, a paint brush, some blackboard paint, a hammer and a nail.

Step 1 – using some masking tape, mark the border for the area you’d like to paint on your clipboard. You can of course throw caution to the wind and paint the whole thing if you’d like. Step 2 – paint that baby good. I applied two light coats of chalkboard paint. Step 3 – before the paint dries, peel off the masking tape. Step 4 – set it aside and allow it to dry, then hang that baby up wherever you like.

Voila, c’est fini! And that is my super simple DIY this week. For the week that it is, I hope you have a safe and eventful St. Patrick’s Day weekend! Monday is a national holiday here in Ireland, and I tell you, I cannot wait to sleep in 3 days in a row. xx A

Sneak peek – bolder shelves

Two years ago {I can’t belive it’s been that long!} I wrote about updating the shelves in our living room. They’ve changed a bit here and there over the years, but over the last few weeks I was feeling it was time for a bit more oomph. I had some ideas floating around since before Christmas, so I bit the bullet and started to make the changes this weekend. And like most projects in our home, I wanted to reuse pieces we already had, as well as keep the budget to close to zero as possible.

I’m still adding the final touches, so it’ll be next week before I share all of the deets for simple ways to update your shelves. Keep your eyes peeled! xx A

UPDATE – Shelves are updated, woop! You can check them out in all their glory here

Thrifty things – pretty in pink

Last week I spotted some serious gems while on my charity shop adventures. I have a hardcore weakness for anything and everything nautical so the moment I saw this miniature ship vase in Second Abbey {for only €1}, I knew it was heading home with me. It was probably used as a plant pot in its previous life due to the amount of dirt in, on and around it, so I gave it a scrub and up onto the mantle it went.
On Saturday I saw this My Fair Lady print in the Oxfam Home store and I held on tight. Pretty pinkness, black and white stripes, AUDREY HEPBURN. For €10, I couldn’t not. 

In honour of my newly purchased print, we got a copy of the movie and watched it yesterday. I’ve seen My Fair Lady a good few times – or at least I thought I had. It turns out I had only ever seen up to the intermission – I never knew there was a second half to the movie. It was a lovely surprise to get another hour of Audrey and dreamy dresses, so I’m not complaining. I just fail at watching movies apparently. 

The first signs of spring sprung near our apartment on the weekend, so I cheekily picked a couple of buds for my new nautical vase. Beautiful. Except they set off my allergies and eyes swelled up within 20 minutes. Totes worth it. xx A