Something to Chalk About: Things I Love

Something to Chalk About: Things I Love:   

 One thing I really love is where I live and that beautiful city is Atlanta or some say HOTlanta. 

Stunning little pillows

One thing I really love is where I live and that beautiful city is Atlanta or some say HOTlanta. So I really love to support those in my hometown or close by. So I found something that I realllllly love. I know everyone has heard of Etsy and OMG if you have not you don't know what your missing. Well there is a lady from Atlanta who has a shop called" Its Not Business ." Love the name by the way.  Look at these . They come in all different colors and I am ordering them.

     Another textiles link http://www.johnrobshaw.com/shop.htm?textiles=PILLOWS&params=4,1,0

       

Chalk Paint : and Those that Inspire Me

       SO " how did you learn how to chalk paint?" is often a question I am asked, and everyone knows your not just born with a chalk painting gene, Although i do believe you can be born with a crafty gene… which I definitely have. I call it the Martha Stewart gene.
I learned how to chalk paint by watching tutorials on Youtube and of corse Pinterst which has some beautiful pictures and great tutorials of chalk painted furniture that I have found inspiring.


Here I will add a few links to some great tutorials from other websites and bloggers. Lilly Pad Cottage by Kelly Renzema you can follow her on Pinterest.
http://www.thelilypadcottage.com/2012/10/how-toannie-sloan-chalk-paint.html

Here is a another from Leslie Stocker who writes paintcolorways blog.
http://lesliestocker.com/swedish-country-style/











Here is a great ebook by a really great blogger who has recently opened a shop. You can download the ebook through this link. Creating your Masterpiece eBook by Shaunna West

Trying Something New....Chalk painting blog

My First Chalk Painting Post

Well I'm stepping out of the box and trying something new but let me warn everyone first. IM NOT A WRITER BY NO MEANS, and you will quickly learn that. I am not the best speller either.. Really, but I do know how to use spell check(thank God for that) I know I'm not perfect.  But sometimes I try to be. And that is one futile battle.  

So let's get down to business.

My first chalk painting project was my kitchen table which I had been wanting to do for 4-5 years and then, I had NEVER heard of chalk paint. It wasn't until recently my mom told me about her chalk painting our dining room table at our condo in Navarre Beach, FL. I said "what is chalk paint" and all she said is "Google it. Pinterest it and look up thepurplepaintedlady.com. " She really knows my love for crafting and decorating and design.
So I did all of those and that's when it happened my garage was no longer for my car but for painting furniture and lots of it. My first chalk paint project was my breakfast room table, which I made my own chalk paint, thanks to a recipe I found on Pinterest. I already had paint in the garage and all I needed was a little Plaster of Paris from Home Depot.
Plaster of Paris is what people use when they are molding things and it's also used for other home projects. You kind find it at your local hardware store, Home Depot, Lowes , etc.

1.Clean and PrepThe first thing I did to prepare for the chalk paint was clean the chairs with some soap and water and a damp cloth. I had used so many cleaning product I wanted to make sure I removed oily substances and any other dirt and grime on the table and chairs.

2. Take it Apart I then removed their wood stained seat from the chairs and my husband helped me sand them down.
I only sanded the seat part of the chairs because instead of chalk painting them we (as in me and my hubs) decides to re stain these a different color. I wanted to go darker with the stain.

3. First Coat Now I did not use primer on this project however I do use Primer on projects that are really slick and shiny surfaces. I prefer Zinsser but there are several good ones out there.  Then after I mixed my chalk paint, I started painting my first coat of chalk paint. I just slapped it on making sure I covered the chair all over. It drys so quickly. By the time I got the legs and side areas all the way around the chair, the area I started with was already dry.

That's my most favorite thing about chalk painting and using the chalk paint. It dry's extremely fast so refinishing a piece of furniture no longer takes a week to do you can finish even a large pieces in 1 day.

I then moved to the top of the chair and after I finished I let it dry about 15 minutes and started the second coat.

4. Sanding As I was chalk painting the chairs my husband help me stain the table top and the seats, however if I did not have his help I would have started the sanding and staining first because that is a few days worth of work. Another reason why I love chalk paint. I gave him all of the hard work which was sanding the original stain off of both. We went through quite a bit of sandpaper to get to bare wood. You want to do it the correct way and that was it.

After the chairs came the table base. While it did take a few days to finish the steps for the stain I Finishedd the chalk painting part of this project on 1 Sunday. I probably have 7-8 hours in the chairs and tables. Yes I said all in 1 day,

Now above you heard me say I mixed my own chalk paint. This was my first project and since i was impatient and did not want to wait for an order to come in, I made my own. Now I usually use either Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® or I have recently tried Maison Blanche and I really really like it .They have the prettiest colors out of any chalk pint brand.  Now these are expensive paints $30.95-$38.95 for a quart, but i can't stress this enough. It goes a long long way. I used less than a whole quart to do 4 bedroom pieces, 2 nightstands, a 9 drawer dresser and a 6 drawer chest and it didn't even take the whole quart. I was amazed at that. Another reason why I love it so much. You can see those pieces in my blog post Dry Brush Technique and Tutorial 


Now after the table was completed a few days later I waxed it with Annie Sloan Soft Wax.
2 coats wax and then buffed with a dry rag to really get the wax deep ion the paint.
I will do a post about waxing in a few days or weeks. Its on my to do list.

This is a before picture of the chair

I have alot more pictures coming and alot more projects to post so keep coming back.

I just wanted to share some of the best Chalk Paint tutorials that have helped me through this new venture that I am so in love with. You may also follow some of my boards on Pinterest at @https://www.pinterest.com/brookelynpd/
A really helpful blogger that has some great videos and readings for chalk painting is Leslie Stocker and if you are a chalk paint attic like i am you already know who she is. check out her blogs for some great inspiration and direction.
http://paintcolorways.blogspot.com/


If you would Love to see some of my favorites follow this link.  http://somethingtochalkabout.blogspot.com/p/things-i-love.html