Shabby Chic {Love} Art

{Disclaimer:  I am a member of the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Program.  I received compensation and/or products for this post.  All opinions and ideas for these products; however, are my own.}

Chalky finish paint is becoming very popular lately.  I see it popping up all over social media and blogs with people reviving furniture with these beautiful chalk finishes and wax.  I have been dying to find a reason to paint something with chalk finish paints.  I almost painted this kitchen island for my mom with it, but I felt it was better to start small.  With Valentine’s day rapidly approaching, I thought it would be a fun way to try out some of DecoArt’s Americana Decor Chalky Finish paints.  There are so many colors to choose from and so many finish options.  This paint is sold online at Home Depot and you can have it delivered to the store for free pickup.  They sell it in 8 oz. and 16 oz. sizes for all of your crafting needs.

Here’s what I used for this project:

1 – 6′ long 1×2 board

Wood glue

Kreg Jig

1 1/4″ pocket hole screws

Americana Classic stencil

Americana Decor Chalky Finish paints in Lace, Promise, and Romance

Americana Decor creme wax in clear and deep brown

foam paint brushes

2″ waxing brush

lint-free pieces of cloth

To start, I cut my 1×2 into 5 – 12.5″ pieces.  This makes the piece a perfect square.  I had a scrap 1×2 handy, so I didn’t need to go far to get one.

I used my Kreg Jig to drill pocket holes into the wood pieces.  I then glued, clamped, and screwed them together.  If you do not have a Kreg Jig, you can always just glue the pieces and then use finishing nails and a thin pieces of wood (such as a 5 gallon paint stick cut in half) and nail those to the back of the square.

I gathered all of my supplies together and got to work on painting.

I painted the entire square in Lace.

I taped my stencil down and used the Promise paint and a foam brush and painted the design.  I offset the stencil design with each row and allowed the design to fall off the wood.  It almost looked like a piece of wallpaper when I was done.  I was half tempted to leave it just like this:)

I hopped on my computer and designed a quick stencil to cut out of vinyl on my Cricut.  I used the Romance paint for this layer.  Don’t you think these color choices are just perfect for Valentine’s day?  I didn’t even do that on purpose!

I took some 220 grit sandpaper and distressed the whole piece a bit.  The dust from the letters turned the whole piece red, which caused me to get a little worried.

But a quick blast with the air hose and some light scrubbing with a damp cloth and all was well with the world again.

I wanted to use both clear wax and brown wax to give it an antiqued look.  I followed the instructions on the DecoArt website and applied the clear coat first.  This protects the painted product from taking in too much of the brown wax.  I let the clear wax dry, but did not buff it.  I then applied a thin coat of the deep brown wax.  I did not take pictures of this part, unfortunately.  The brown wax went on a little darker than I wanted it to be, so I dabbed a cloth into the clear wax and then wiped it onto the brown wax.  It loosens up the wax and allows you to manipulate it into the finish you are looking for.  I was really nervous about applying the wax finish, but it was actually really easy to work with.  If I messed up a spot with the brown wax, it easily came up with some of the clear wax.  

Once the wax was completely dry, I buffed it with a clean lint-free cloth.  You don’t have to use a ton of elbow grease to do this.  Just rub the entire piece until you achieve the glossy finish you are looking for.  Or you can leave the piece as is and have a matte finish.

Here is how it looked after all was said and done.

 I have a huge niche in our built in media center that always seems sparse, so I decided this would fit best in there with a large picture frame and some quick paper garland.  I love that this area doesn’t seem so bare anymore.

I really love how this turned out.  I was thinking yesterday that it would be fun to make one a less Valentinesey (I know that’s not a word) color and leave it out year round.  After all is said and done, I’ve now been bitten by the chalky paint bug and I can’t wait to work on another project.  Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, I think I’m ready to move onto something bigger:)

 ~Katie

 

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