The Desperate Nester and the Garage of Dreams

I have been in need of a project. The nonstop heat and rain here make it impossible to spend time outside, and I’m getting tired of reading. In hopes of finding something to do, I trekked out to the gold mine that is our garage and found some old roofing slates my parents had left over from the roof of our old house in New Hampshire (don’t ask me why they carted them around for 20 years and through 4 moves). These are not the man made roofing shingles one finds today...they are real slate, a la historic New England. Apparently my Mom used to paint and stencil them as welcome signs and sell them for a little extra money when we lived in New Hampshire. Stenciling is very popular in New England...even our kitchen floor had a stenciled border around it. But I digress.

Also in the box were some antique door handles with the latches still attached. My crafty little brain was in overdrive. What could be done with roofing slates and old door handles? I finally settled on making a memo chalkboard. The surface of the slate is perfect for such a purpose and there’s nothing I love more than getting to use spray paint and industrial strength glue. It makes my crafting feel more manly somehow. Especially if I drink a beer while doing it. 

After a coat of paint and some glue, my obsession with birds and organization created this:

As you may have noticed, I don’t take myself too seriously and I enjoy making things that are fun and a bit whimsical. The handle and latch just looked so much like a bird I couldn’t resist painting it like a parrot and adding the feather. After adding a decorative bag to hold chalk all I need now is to make a hanger out of some colorful yarn. 

Can’t wait to use it! Even paying bills seems more fun now. Once again the garage of dreams comes through. I still have more slates left over. Some I’ll use to make herb markers for the garden, but I’m still thinking about what to do with the rest. Any ideas?