My first attempt at Chalk Paint

With all the thrift furniture I have been acquiring in need of a makeover, I have been doing a little research for great ideas and better techniques. I came across this wonderful product called Chalk Paint. 

I had never heard of it before. 

So I googled it. 

I found TONS of information and youtube tutorials. After hours of watching, I finally decided. . . 

I had to just try it. I decided to start small. I figured I could not mess up a pumpkin!

It was so easy, and I am in love with how they look. 

So I figured I would venture into furniture territory

This was a $2 chair I found at a thrift store. I have my mothers old dining room table that I am making a larger top for. My plan is to collect 8 - 10 mismatched chairs that I can paint all the same color and then pair them with the new/old dining table This will be the beginning of that project.

So this is what the chair looked like to begin with. 

It was painted a very boring brown and except for some minor gouges was in pretty good shape.

And this was the chair after one coat of the Chalk Paint. 

PRIMER?  Nope

SANDING?  None

And where I started was completely dry by the time I finished!

Then I took a fine grit sand paper and lightly (LIGHTLY) scuffed the edges to reveal the brown underneath.

After I had finished the scuffing, I brushed a light coat of Soft Wax over the top. That also dries very fast. After it had finished drying I took a soft cloth or sock and just buffed it a little. It has the most velvety feel and just a slight sheen. I will never go back to regular latex for furniture again. 

 VIOLA!

 This is the finished chair. So beautifully modeled by my Samantha and Sabrina in our backyard.

(we do not have a lawn mower, 

so they pretend the backyard is a beautiful field) =)

This may be a project that takes me forever to finish,

 AHHHH. . . .one down, only 9 more to go!

Art Therapy

In an effort to “keep it real”

let me just say. . . . . some days I could use a 

therapist on speed dial!

 And lately it seems like I am having

 more of these days than not. 

So I decided it was time

 for a new kind of therapy. One that

 required much less talking, and just more 

being. And truthfully, the three days I 

was working on these pieces were 

so very calming.

This first one I did on canvas. I knew I needed to just get my brain into creative mode so I got on pinterest and found a few quotes I liked and a basic idea of what I wanted. Then I just got on the computer and printed out the lettering I knew I wanted to use.

This font is called rage, and I loved it! This is what it looked like printed out - Y O U

Then I just started sketching it in pencil and filled it in with paint. 

After I had filled everything in, I just used a fine point sharpie for the outline.

I love how it turned out!

The second one was something I made for Tyler. I found a saying that I knew was perfect!

But I did not want to use canvas. So I ripped apart a crate I was not using and recreated this wood panel. Then I printed again from the computer the words I wanted to use and just freehand painted them on. But this one proved to be very tricky……

the wood is not smooth like the canvas, so it was really hard to get a fluid line.

I still loved how this one turned out too.

But more important, so did Tyler!