Chalk Painting 101

It was a spectacular sunny day yesterday ... perfect weather for being outside.  I had another project in mind however, so first, a quick trip to return Queen Elizabeth's choice in colors.  I placed those two bottles on every piece of furniture I planned to paint, and try as I might to imagine a pink and mauve dresser in my rather western theme home, it just wasn't going to happen.  Martha gave it a resounding NO!!

With a couple of new colors in my purse, I headed off to the birthday party for a sweet girl turning 21.  The backyard Traeger barbecue cooked some delicious burgers and her family made my kind of potato salad!!

Before the family photos (I was the assistant to the photographer at this shindig), she blew out her candles and we all scarfed down cake and ice cream.  Imagine our shock when we noticed that everyone's teeth, braces, mustaches and chins were dyed blue from the frosting.  Although I thought it would make for the best birthday party pictures EVER, no one else concurred, and the photo session was cancelled.

Now for the painting project!!  It's time this very old unused table got a new life!!  Turn your project upside down and paint the bottom first.  Oh, did I mention there is NO PREP WORK!!  No sanding, no scraping ... just wipe the dust off and start painting!!  Since the hardware will be antiqued also, you don't even have to remove it ... just paint right over the metal.  This stuff is like magic!!

Then turn it right side up and finish covering the entire table.  It took all of two ounces to complete this piece, with just a tad of water.  But wait ... this is only the beginning.  There will be another coat, some amazing crackle paint and two kinds of wax before it's done.  There are no mistakes here ... the more haphazard the application, the more original (and old looking) the end product will be.  

You do have to let it dry between coats, which took all of fifteen minutes.  I'll keep working on it and post pics.  Who knew this was so easy??  And the best part ... you can paint anything from wood, to metal, to plastic ... you can even dye fabric for curtains and paint over fabric chairs.  Don't worry, Martha put a stop to those thoughts!!!  I can't wait to get started on it today!!