Thursday, January 22, 2015

Dr.Seuss Inspired Chalk/Magnetic Activity Board

As a child I loved Dr. Seuss books and my children loved them too!
So I always enjoy this time of year when we all celebrate the Dr. Seuss legacy and I can re-live some childhood and early Mom memories!

I am now a Grandmother and have the pleasure of introducing my Grand little ones to the great books of Dr. Seuss, so I was excited to participate in this Craft Lightning Edition and wanted to create something "Seussical" for the little ones!


I came up with this cute and handy little activity tray that I knew the Grandkids would love.
It was so quick and easy to make and the best part is that it was made from an old cookie sheet I had that had gotten ruined in the oven, so it is a recycle/upcycle project to boot!


Check out the collage photo below to see the "before" picture...you won't believe how yucky this pan was!
In most cases, you would be able to just hit an old pan with a piece of sandpaper to get off any baked on high spots...but in this case, the pan was so bad that hubby had to use some of his power tools to get it clean.

I used Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint and it worked beautifully!
I couldn't believe how smoothly it went on and how quickly it dried.
I sprayed two coats, front and back and it covered good.

I taped it off and added the red trim around the sides.
I hadn't originally planned on doing this, so I had to "borrow" hubby's engine enamel!
(Hubs to the rescue again...what would I do without him??!!)

I added some washi tape accents on the sides and then added the foam sticker & button magnets for the kids to play & learn with.
(TIP: You could also add alphabet beads with magnets for spelling games for kids, or old scrabble tiles!)


The Grandkids were at the house when I finished the project and they were all pretty excited about it...we gathered them for a group shot...and their "Poppy" (aka: Grandpa) was standing behind me making funny faces to get them to laugh!


Here are the steps for making the project: 


Here are the tools and supplies I used for this project:


List of Tools/Materials:

Old/Used Metal Cookie Sheet (Not shown in photo)
Sandpaper
Die Grinder Power Tool w/Sanding Disk (Not shown in photo and not necessary in most cases...my tray was extra dirty!)
Krylon Black Chalkboard Spray Paint
Dupli-Color Engine Enamel Ceramic (Red)
Craftsmart Premium Satin Acrylic Paint (color: Pacific Coast)
Creatology Paint Brush
Water/Water Jar (to thin acrylic paint)
Absorbent Pad/Towel
Blue Painters Masking Tape
Brown Paper Bag (can also use Kraft Paper or Butcher's Paper) (Not shown in photo)
Recollections Wide Washi Tape (9.1m)
E6000 Adhesive
Mini-Wooden Clothespins (WalMart)
Buttons, Red, 1/2" (10 ea.)
Dr. Seuss Themed Foam Dimensional Stickers
Magnetic Strip, Crafters Choice, 1/2" wide
Magnets, Small, Round (2 ea.), (for the mini-clothespins)
Cutco Heavy Duty Scissors

Be sure to check out all of the other great Dr. Seuss Crafts being featured this week by clicking on the graphic below:



Thank-you for stopping by my blog, hope you enjoyed your visit and felt inspired to create!








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