♥ + chalkboard oilcloth

kiana’s birthday was yesterday. she’s 14.  i can’t wait till she’s sixteen, because we really need another driver in our family.  i feel like kiana has always been years ahead of her age, so she should be twenty.  yet, the idea that i only get her at home for four more years just breaks my heart. so, i’m happy to accept fourteen and the fact that it looks really good on her.

to celebrate, i planned a simple family breakfast. i realized as i downloaded the pictures i was obviously obsessed with the decor because i didn’t take any pictures of the food or our family, minus two pictures of kiana. for breakfast we had whole wheat crepes, omelets, bacon, fruit, juice, and coffee – it was quite the spread and an amazing accomplishment to get that much food cooked in our before school morning routine!

for the decorations, i used lace, ribbon, and chalkboard oilcloth* as a tablecloth. why give birthday cards when you can write and draw all your greetings right across the table?!?

{please forgive my poor lighting on these photos. the sun was just coming up when we celebrated at 6:30am}

i had more fun than you can imagine doodling all-over this oilcloth for my sweet teenager. i easily could have stayed up all night dancing around the kitchen to pandora with chalk in my hand, drawing happiness.

my absolute favorite right now is brown kraft products + lace.

pretty bearzy opening her gifts — i love this girl.

for the most part, a successful fourteenth birthday morning. our big girls still drove to school with big papi fighting all the way over who should be sitting in the front seat.

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*using/caring for the oilcloth: i used regular crayola white chalk + very inexpensive {we’re talking dollar store} sidewalk chalk. the sidewalk chalk proved to be softer & worked much better than typical chalk. the typical chalk didn’t always work. also, when cleaning the oilcloth, it wipes perfectly clean with a moist paper towel. after sela spent the day coloring on the oilcloth, i simply wiped the entire thing clean, rolled it up & stored it till our next chalk-coloring session. voila!

the best part of the chalkboard oilcloth is how versatile it is – after i cleaned up breakfast, and sela came home from preschool, we moved the oilcloth into our home office – ta-da! inside sidewalk chalk!

are you obsessing over this chalkboard oilcloth? thinking of the bajillion things you can make out of chalkboard oilcloth?!? placemats. kids chalk quiet books. the list goes on and on, right? i purchased my oilcloth here, i bought 3 yards at $10.50/yard – you can find it at other places/sites. if you find it cheaper, i’d love to know. and, lots of ideas/products on etsy!

{all photos by me. this is not a sponsored post.}