Chalk one up!

I had to try my hand at making chalk paint - I already

felt a little late out of the gate!  I mixed my flat

white (with a hint of turqouise) latex paint with

about 2 heaping tablespoons of white unsanded grout

(using about 2 cups of paint).  I ended up adding a bit

more grout - overall - I had a pretty good result.  I wanted

to test the "no prep" experience of using chalk paint - it didn't

really work that well for me - I wish I had sanded the chair

before I painted but the end result isn't awful.  The

chair was free so not a big investment if it didn't work!

I also couldn't find proper wax (I wasn't able to get to

a hardware/paint store) so I used bee's wax.  Again, not a

stellar result but not terrible. 

I do have a little tip I have been meaning to share - it's

served me well in recovering chair seats such as this one.

I always look for pillow shams at the thrift stores - most

often they are in new condition (lots of people never bother

to use them) and they are often in lovely fabrics AND best

of all, they are just the right amount of fabric to cover a

chair seat.  This one is a silky fabric that was actually lined

with quilt batting so double bonus for a buck! I've

also got some matelasse ones stored up for some

special chairs.

I guess I will continue to try and refine my chalk paint

process.  I made a really cool pillow to go with the chair

but frankly it turned out SO well that it deserves

 a post all its own.

Hope you are having as much fun as I am (oh how hard

it is going to be to go back to work next week!)