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Country Lifehome garden KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MCT) — Chalkboards may be old-school, but they're the newest accent in home decor. "Look what I made," said Kelly Sims of Lib- erty, Mo., holding up her smartphone during an unofficial show and tell during a chalkboard paint class at Be Here Now, a store in Inde- pendence, Mo. She flipped through pics: A picnic basket with a chalkboard top for play- fully listing its con- tents. An old mirror converted into a mes- sage board. The fronts of a few kitchen cabi- nets for meal planning and writing quotes. Sims finds pieces in thrift stores, garage sales and even the trash, then transforms them with chalkboard paint into gifts and home- entertaining acces- sories. kindergarten teacher, but she was a pupil that Thursday night in chalkboard paint class. The instructor was Meredith Martin, an interior designer who lectured on how to mix custom colors and what you can make with it. Results included a table setting with a chalkboard-painted paper runner and flower pots with chalkboard labels. Next to her sat a chalkboard-painted desk, storage boxes and a child's play table. She led the class in a craft project, a large metal charger with the decora- tive border taped off. With paint, the center of the charger became a chalkboard. Sims may be a C D E F A B Here's an array of chalkboard paint infor- mation: small pieces or a regular paintbrush for furniture and walls. For glass bottles, apply thinly. Spray cans of chalk- board paint are avail- able. pply paint thickly with a foam craft brush for of chalkboard paint, but it can be any color. lack — as in blackboard _ is the most typical color Chalk Ink (chalkinkworldstore.co m), are an alternative to dusty, smearing chalk. halkboard markers, avail- able at craft stores and at to go if you don't want to commit to paint. Large-format shapes include rectangles, squares, airplanes and coffee cups, to name a few at All Modern (allmodern.com). Little labels are available at Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery at Staples (staples.com). ecals with chalkboard surfaces are another way you want the surface to be super clean, see Let- ter T (clean it with a damp cloth). rasers like you had in elemen- tary school are adorable. But if well for chalkboard paint. But the paint can be used on the entire piece. Artist Tiffini Killgore painted a urniture, such as the top of a desk or a dining table, works & The ABCs of chalkboard projects Try tropicals in your garden this spring daffodil foliage is cut back and the beds are weeded and mulched, it's time to add the final touch of perfection — tropicals that give your porches and patios a little island mys- tique. And, since tropicals typically come in basic plastic pots that can be slipped into boldly colored ceramic pots, they can instantly turn any outdoor space into a party place. String a few lights, light some tiki torches and your decor needs nothing but Jimmy Buffet music and some good eats. If you're really in a generous mood, let each of your (MCT) When the tomatoes are finally planted, any old guests take a tropical home. In cold climates, tropicals are plants that are good for one season and one season only, unless you have the patience to try and over-winter them indoors or in a temperate garage. Too many people take home a tropical hibiscus, thinking they can put it in the ground and enjoy it year after year. Left outdoors, those hibiscus die when the first hard frost occurs October-November, depending on where you live. For tem- perate climates, Zone 7 and warmer, there are cold-hardy hibiscus with flat, saucer-sized flowers and marijuana-like leaves, while tropical hibiscus have shiny leaves with trum- pet-shaped blooms. If you remove a tropical from its plastic pot and plant it in a decorative container, make sure the pot has ample drainage holes. Use only good potting soil, not garden soil, which is too heavy. Fill the new pot with one- third potting soil. Remove the tropical from its container and tease or loosen any matted, circling roots. Place it in the new pot and fill in with more potting soil. Water thoroughly. If the potting soil settles, add more soil and water again. Tropicals are heavy feeders, so regular fertilization with a water-soluble food meant for flowering plants, or a time- released granule mixed into the potting soil keeps the plants blooming. Some potting soils have fertilizer already mixed into them, but they are often only good for a few weeks. During hot summer days, potted plants need daily, some- times twice daily, watering because the soil heats up and dries out quickly. G H I dresser with chalkboard paint and wrote the names of Kansas City neighborhoods on the drawers in chalk. empty wine bottle, et voila! A vase. Great gift tags, too, can be craft- ed. The best part: they're reusable. ood gifts can be made with chalkboard paint. Paint an your favorite color of latex paint, says interior designer Meredith Mar- tin (she used a no-VOC variety). Buy unsanded grout ($3 from a hard- ware store). For a gal- lon of paint, mix in a quart of grout. (The ratio should be two- thirds paint to one-third grout). Stir. Add drops of water to make it thin- ner. After painting, allow to dry an hour. Often only one coat is needed. ow to mix your own chalkboard paint: buy K L J dea for parties: use a chalkboard-style oilcloth as a runner on the table. Give guests chalk or chalk pens and tell them to go to town. ot down anything on a chalkboard surface. It can be erased. O P Q R S T create a tablecloth. Great for writing pair- ing suggestions for tast- ing parties. raft paper can be covered with chalk- board paint to M N chalkboard or chalk- board paint. et your kids draw on the walls. No prob- lem with a sage board out of an old five-panel door using chalkboard paint in the panels. ew ake a Mon- day- through- Friday mes- (We've spotted a VW Bug). bvious choice: cheese trays. Not so obvi- ous: your car. walls with chalk draw- ings, such as a family tree in a nursery. A hint for precise outlines: rent a projector and cre- ate a transparency at a print shop. ictures on Pin- terest.com are inspiring us. We especially love home warehouses, paint shops and Be Here Now, Mo., 816-461-7819, b- here-now.com. Be Here Now also sells chalk- board paint in a variety of colors by the pint, $15. Independence, creations permanent. pray surfaces with polyurethane to make chalk-art U chalkboard paint. painting the surface of a deck with idea: a damp cloth. ired of the mess or the design? The best way to clean it is with goes on gritty. When it dries, sand surfaces with 150-grit sandpaper before you first write on them. nderstand that when you apply chalk- board paint, it esources for chalkboard paint include craft stores, uotes on chalkboards = instant inspi- ration. V W X Y Z Chalk comes in a cray- on-assortment of colors these days; Crayola has a 52-count pack. ariety. Think beyond white chalk on a blackboard. you'll find from companies such as Monrovia (www.mon- rovia.com) and Hines (www.hineshort.com). Monrovia is found at independent garden centers; Hines is available at garden centers and stores such as Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart. Mandevilla Bride's Cascade. These summer-long flower- ing vines come in all colors, including a new white one called Bride's Cascade. The vigorous plant, which grows 15 feet long, needs a strong support system, including a fence, trellis or arbor. Here's a glimpse at some of the new sun-loving tropicals mat designs, says Annie Huff, the 18-year-old daughter of Restoration Emporium owner Chrysalyn Huff. Annie Huff does chalkboard creations on doors and walls at the store. She dunks sidewalk chalk in a bucket of water. "It doesn't look like any- thing when it's wet on the surface, but then it dries vibrantly." et chalk is a secret for creating large-for- date of purchase or after it's mixed. (Yes, cre- ative spelling is permit- ted on creative chalk- boards.) piration date of chalkboard paint: Six months from side, use a nontoxic food-safe clear coat (available at craft stores) on top of chalk- board painted plates and platters. ummy surface for appetizer trays? To be on the safe nothing on them. They're full of possibil- ities. ero writing. Chalkboard surfaces look great even with plant flowers all summer. Its bonsai-like appearance features twisted stems, oval-shaped leaves and large, bright flowers. When dry and dormant, the plant tolerates temperatures into the mid 40s; it can be brought indoors, kept dry and moved outdoors in spring. Bougainvillea Bambino. These bougainvilleas reach 4-5 feet tall, and include Lauren with variegated foliage that con- trasts nicely with large clusters of flowers spring-fall. Use them in containers and as hedges for real drama. Babybino Bougainvillea. This new dwarf bougainvillea acts more like a shrub and is easy to grow. Dark Rose has deep rose-colored flowers that contrast against the olive green foliage; blooms appear spring-fall. Use it in patio pots, garden beds and window boxes. Get really crazy and plant it as a mass of ground cover around a patio or pool. Crinum Purple Dream. It's nicknamed Black Hawaiian Spider Lily because of its deep purple foliage that is almost black when it grows in full sun. Spidery, deep-pink flowers appear on dark red stalks above the foliage early summer to fall. Adenium Kissable Pink, aka desert rose. This carefree are show-stoppers when you use them for parties or outdoor celebrations like weddings and anniversaries. The blooms come in shades of red, pink, orange, purple and white. They need full sun and are fairly drought tolerant, which means you may not have to water their containers daily, if you are lucky. Bougainvillea patio trees and pots. These showy plants Saturday, May 19, 2012 – Daily News 3B Bahama Bay Hibiscus. These tropical treats produce end- less numbers trumped-shaped blooms, some with ruffles, in orange, red and pink tones. The bright flowers always pop out against dark green foliage that has a nice sheen to it. Remove the old flowers to encourage new ones, and feed fre- quently. They dislike temperatures below 55 degrees, but can be protected at night and uncovered to bloom again during warm fall days. Check Us Out We have all your Summer Essentials plus • Great Annual Color • House Plants • Gifts for any Gardener Garden Center Red Bluff 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) 527-0886