Home Improvement: DIY: wooden chalkboard labels

yes, i'm at it again in the toy organization department. you see, what worked for me in the old house isn't working as well here in the new house. that's bound to happen in a new space/home. sure, my little mesh square bins with cute labels are awesome at containing the toys and keeping them organized in their various categories. and they fit perfectly into the 2 built-in shelving units in the playroom. but the issues with that system in this house?...

1. the bins are see-through which means the kids can see everything all the time and that means...

2. they have complete access to all of the toys all the time which means...

3. the messes in the playroom have been epic which means....

4. *i* am dealing with those epic messes and...

5. the see-through bins were creating a lot of eye-clutter (in the old house they were in the playroom closet) and finally....

6. this may sound crazy, but i don't want the playroom to SCREAM "playroom!!!!".

let me explain number 6.

in the old house the playroom was its own contained room on its own floor. oh how i miss those days and our old playroom...

in this house, the playroom is in the heart of our living space. the room is in between the garage entry and kitchen. every time i walk through the space (countless times each day) and see the mess, i'm compelled to stop and tidy up. it's me. i can't help it because i enjoy living in a clean, organized home. but i'm also careful not to push my OCD issues onto the kids. yes, i want to help them create good habits and get into a routine of picking up after themselves. there's a way to do that and it takes time.

in order to create a happy medium here, i decided the playroom needed a bit of an overhaul. that's an understatement, but let's go with that. we've lived here for 2 months now and in that amount of time i let the room speak to me. i'll be sharing a full playroom reveal in the coming days, but here is a sneak peak of one wall before and after...

heaven!!!

we'll be talking more about this new wall unit soon and i'll share lots of pictures in the coming days. but this wall unit has literally changed the life of this space, makes the room feel cozier, and i can't *see* a lot of toy clutter. it makes my eyes happy, what can i say?

today let's talk about a small DIY project i completed in the playroom during the makeover - adorable chalkboard labels...on the cheap! as you've probably seen around blog-land and other places, chalkboard labels are a big rage in kid's spaces. they can cost you a fortune too if you buy them off the rack. for example, i love these labels from pottery barn kids.....

but for $10 you receive a whopping TWO labels. if i purchased the 10 i needed from PBK, i would be out $50 plus tax and shipping. i knew i could cut the cost significantly and create some myself.

last week i shared a photo on instagram while at one of my happy places getting my DIY on...

that's exactly what i was doing there - re-creating chalkboard labels that were just as cute but much less money. here's what i did to easily to create adorable chalkboard labels.

in the lumber department, i located long strips of hobby board. the size is on the label shown here below. to create 10 labels i needed 1 1/2 strips of hobby board. but depending on the size label you choose to create, your amount will vary...

the home depot lumber dept employee happily cut the long strips down into 5" pieces for me. i don't own a table saw (yet!) so when i'm ever in need of cuts, the home depot is a great place to buy wood and have them cut it for you on the spot...

with my wood pieces cut to 5", i sanded down all sides using this great hand sander...

i found this sander with replaceable sanding sponges at the home depot a long time ago. i love it! it works really well when you need to do something by hand. here you can see the splintered edges...

after sanding, it's nice and smooth...

next, i marked the holes for drilling. i decided it would be easier to drill the holes before painting.

if you've never used a drill before, they are super easy to handle after a little lesson from a handyman or home improvement store employee. this is a great project for getting your feet wet in the drill world.

photos courtesy of a precious 9 year old...my look courtesy of stress, lack of sleep, and not enough coffee (or wine). oh, and pay no mind to the conditions of my garage in the background. that's on my hit list....

since i was using twine to hang my labels, i made sure to cut a hole in the boards that would fit the twine thickness. just make sure the drill bit will accommodate whatever you're using to hang the label...

with the boards sanded and drilled, it was time to paint!...

this can of chalkboard spray paint was $6.99 from my local craft store. it more than covered the labels and still have a ton remaining for future projects.

i sprayed a good coat on the labels. keep in mind, this is a job for outdoors because of the strong fumes....

i just spread them out on my drop cloth in the driveway and went to town...

these labels are in the playroom and will be handled by the kids, so i sprayed 3 coats for added durability...

after an hour of spraying and drying in between coats, they're done!...

i love how rustic they appear. you can still tell the labels are wood and i like that warm feeling in a playroom. with the paint completely dry and twine at the ready, i used a chalk marker to write the toy categories...

the chalk marker was found at my local craft store for $2. i wrote the toy category name on the label, then added the twine to one of the pre-drilled holes...