Paint It Pink

When the folks at Rust-Oleum asked if I would participate in their Paint It Pink challenge this month, I have to admit….my first thought was “Dude I have boys. What on earth am I going to paint pink?”  But then I remembered that their challenge is to bring awareness to breast cancer.  And breast cancer affects ALL PEOPLE.  Even males get breast cancer.  And I have sisters, nieces, aunts, friends, family and even you, my virtual friends who may be faced with this horrible disease one day (or maybe you are struggling with it right now!) and I would never want to turn down the opportunity to support these loved ones – especially if all it meant was painting something the color of the month!

I hope you join me.

I sincerely do.

Because this is an awesome cause and it’s super easy to make a difference.  All you have to do is create a pink project….it doesn’t matter the size or time or WHAT….paint something pink….then just share it on social media with the #PaintItPink hashtag…..EVERY SINGLE PROJECT THAT IS POSTED = $10 donated by Rust-Oleum to Bright Pink (a non-profit orginazation dedicated to early detection of breast and ovarian cancer!)

I decided to make a growth chart.  I have made one in the past and this time I wanted to make one for my little niece Isla.  We call her Yaya.  She is just the sweetest little thing I ever saw and the thought of her possibly struggling with breast or ovarian cancer was suffocating.  She is only one year old!  And I definitely want to see her grow to a ripe old age!

The process to make this is super simple.  First get a 1×6 board and trace some small scallops on one side.  Originally I did both sides and it wasn’t as cute as I hoped.

After you trace evenly, you may need to trim some off the bottom of the board.  See how the little paint cans don’t reach the bottom of the board?  I just created a straight line there and chopped off the excess.

You can make the scallops easily with a jigsaw.

Then sand the entire thing down.  I used regular sandpaper for the curvy areas.

After it is sanded, I applied a coat of Rust-Oleum’s chalk paint in Blush Pink.

Chalk paint distresses really well so I wish that I had made a more ‘shabby chic’ piece but I know that my sister likes the non-distressed look for Isla’s room.

After I painted it, I realized that I had made a really long pink cloud.  Or a sausage.  Or a really long curling rod.  Or an X-rated toy.  Ruh-roh.  That’s not the look I was going for.  I am fairly certain my sister would have died laughing and then hid the gift in the closet.  Brainstorm sesh was in order.

We ran it through the table saw and cut off one side to take it back to a growth chart and I think the crisis was diverted.

After I resanded the edges and touched up the paint, I started with the inch marks and then the numbers to indicate height.  It helps if you just start at 6 Inches from the bottom (that way you can measure six inches from the floor and mark that and hang the growth chart accordingly!).  I used Martha Stewart craft stencils (I think I got these at Michaels) and a metallic gold Painters pen to do all the markings.

After that was dry, I sealed the entire thing with a matte clear coat and waited excitedly for it to dry!

I can not wait to show Nornie and Yaya!  It looks so cute!

The boys rushed over and loved it too!  All of them knew exactly what it was too!  #diesausagecloud

I think it’s the perfect feminine twist on a popular kid’s room decor item.  And since I know how much we love our own growth chart, I have a feeling like it will hold sentimental value for them too!  Off to go tag this on social media #paintitpink so Rust-Oleum donates the ten bucks.  And if you decide to do your own pink project, I would LOVE to see it….just tag me too on Facebook or Instagram so I can ooh-and-aww over all those shades of pink!