Repurposed Wooden Calendar

This month’s Thrift Store Decor Team makeover item comes to me all the way from Texas compliments of my daughter and her beautiful wife. The girls have several favorite thrift and consignment stores that they love to frequent ( I wonder where they get that from???). On a recent trip they saw this perpetual calendar AND it was on sale for 75% off of the marked price.

They paid $5 and brought her to me last month. I knew immediately that I wanted to transform this into a cute little message board. So here is how I repurposed this wooden calendar.

The Plan

I’m knee deep in refreshing my master bedroom as part of the One Room Challenge. You can read all about the plan here. Be sure to check out each week’s progress. I need to switch out my art work and wall decor. Why not use this sweet little project in a little corner of the room? Just a little glimpse of an inspirational or humorous quote can get your day started with a positive spin. My walls are newly painted white and the room has accents of many colors of vibrant blue. So I grabbed one of my favorite blue paints and gave this outdated wooden calendar a coat of fresh sassy blue. I used Folkart Quaker Blue Milk Paint by Plaid Crafts. I just love this blue!

Upgrades

The little heart cutout screams “80’s country decor” so I cut a small piece of wood to cover the heart. I will add some sort of embellishment once I get farther into the project. For now, I measured the heart and used my scroll saw to cut out a piece of wood to cover the heart. I sanded the edges, applied 2 coats of blue paint and hot glued the cover over the heart.

The drawer had a chunky heart as a pull in following the 80’s country decor theme.

I used a pair of pliers to pull that off. I sanded the front of the drawer and drilled a small hole. Of course I have tons of hardware left over from my furniture painting days. The first one I saw was a beauty from Liberty Hardware. And how about this Quaker Blue in the daylight!

Liberty was a former sponsor of the Haven Conference. Another favorite hardware supplier is D. Lawless Hardware, my absolute favorite hardware supplier. Check out all of their phenomenal items here. Derrek was kind enough to supply the knobs and hinges for My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen. Check out their website for your next hardware or embellishment project. You will not be disappointed!

A Personal Touch

I gathered some of my favorite little quotes and saying. I made a list of the words needed to complete these sayings. I decided to write out the phrases completely by putting one word on each block to spell out the sentence. I painted all of the little blocks white, two coats. Then I added the words for my quotes. I left the holiday pictures intact so I can use them.

Upcycle

I will probably add the individual alphabet letters to the other side of the block so I can spell out words as well. If you measure the size of the little blocks, you use your Silhouette or Cricut to cut out the letters you need. I have a relatively steady hand and on a good day my calligraphy skills are decent. So I just used a black fine point paint pen and free handed the words. This is a convenient 2-pack!

The top shelf will make a great spot to sit mementos and fun items that are reminders of good times.

And the little drawer is a great storage spot for all of the extra blocks with words. I can switch them out easily without having to remember where I stored that little baggie of word blocks.

For added charm, I added a photo of I (son #1), Mr. Blu, Mrs. I, Gbaby Blu and me from I’s wedding.

I styled another phrase with an old clock face that I bought at an antique store. I like the idea of switching out items relevant to the phrase. Other ideas for the top of the board are a rainbow, family photos, etc.

Be creative! Be personal! All of the little quotes and sayings that are specific to our little family will go on this board to remind me of how lucky I am on a daily basis!

The Thrift Store Decor Team

Please visit my talented friends on the Thrift Store Decor Team. I am new to this group but every week they continue to amaze me with their talents and creativity. Leave them a comment and tell them how great their projects are!