Playing with Chalk...paint

I found out how to make my own Chalk paint, from my darling & creative sister-in-law. One tablespoon of grout for every cup of flat paint. Easy enough, I had both ingredients left over from past projects, one being the painting of my entire house, that I must show you (especially since it contains a BEFORE & AFTER picture, which by now everyone knows I love to post those). Here is the exterior before:

Eeek. I did NOT pick out that Plum/Purple/Tan color! 

 And there it is after...

(My dear ol dad hasn't finished my Cedar Shutters yet, but you can't rush a free contractor!)

Body: Oatmeal (Kelly Moore) darkened 50%, trim Behr "Decorator's White"

 OK, I got side-tracked again. None of the above had anything to do with Chalk Paint, but the leftover trim was how I made the chalk paint, so in a way, it's connected to my story. I went dumpster diving one day, you know, when you drive around on a Sunday in the neighborhood, looking for "garage sale leftovers" on the curb *haha* and found this sad, fugly table, propped up. It had wrought iron legs, but the top looked like hell. 

I actually set out gel staining it Java, and spray painted the legs with a Matte black spraypaint. It looked OK, nothing to blog about. Plus, the size of the table was more of a bistro type, and not very sturdy.

So my neighbor came over to admire it, and mentioned it would look better on a patio. So, I overhauled it, sanded down the poly and Gel Stain a bit and covered it with Chalk Paint (color is Decorator's White) and re-spray painted the legs.

I think it was meant to be a patio table ;) I did coat the chalk paint with Poly. It was easy to work with, but seemed to like plastic or rough surfaces better than sanded wood surfaces. Plus, it dries too fast and gets gunked up if you don't cap the lid between coats, which was frustrating, because I tend to get side-tracked between projects. I tried it on a cabinet door, since a lot of my friends were asking about White Kitchens. This was the outcome of that...

Before

After

It took 4 coats to cover the honey oak wood.  I would highly recommend a Semi Gloss Poly over the Chalk paint for kitchen or bathroom cabinets.

$6 flower pot from Dollar General Before

After, with 2 coats Chalk Paint

Also a plastic flower pot

After, 2 coats Chalk Paint

I have an array of god awful, butt ugly frames, gold, lime green, you name it, I probably have it. Anyways, I have had them stacked in my garage wondering what to do with them. Gel Stain or Chalk Paint? So I tried both. I have to say, I like the white color of the old frames than the Java color, for sure. I have ordered a White Gel Stain, and will be using and reviewing that next week on a couple of those frames. For now, this is what the Chalk Paint looks like on the frames. I have not distressed with Wax yet, but plan to.

Ugly frame #4325 Before

Pretty frame #4325 After Chalk Paint :)

Not the same frame as below after, but same color and texture.

After. I think I may distress these in Gray.

The moral to my story...I like Chalk paint, on frames and plastics. Not too keen on how it is on large pieces of furniture, but maybe I am doing it wrong or not fast enough. I am really excited to play with the White Gel Stain that is coming this weekend! 

OK that's all I got. Now get off the computer, and go make something pretty! xo