Chalk Paint Adventure

Cooking is not my forte.  Mr. Dump and I spend most of our evenings trying to decide whose turn it is to pick something up on the way home from work.  We had a slight incident with a hot pan and olive oil last winter that led to this priceless photo... (Thanks, Drew!  You are better than the average PhotoShop expert!)

I'll spare you the details.  Anyway, someone that doesn't cook has no real need for recipes.  That is... until you want to tackle a DIY chalk paint extravaganza. 

I've seen information on several blogs about making your own chalk paint.  I'm too cheap to pay for the real deal, so I thought that I would give it a try.  Most of the recipes recommended using unsanded grout, Plaster of Paris, or Calcium Carbonate (whatever that is!) mixed with a latex paint.  I decided to use the unsanded grout because I knew that it would be easy to find at my local home improvement store.  I mixed a tablespoon with latex paint and went to town.  Again, no real measuring going on here.

 

I wanted to try it on a table that I found at an estate sale.  Nothing too fancy here... Just classic and simple.

Before I started painting, I sanded the table to fix some of the imperfections.  I was tempted to stain the top, but I couldn't get the wood to cooperate.

I was a little lazy with the painting step (come on people, it's my second day of summer vacation!  I deserve to be a little lazy) and loaded the paint into my sprayer instead of brushing it on.  This caused it to be really gritty.

I used a piece of sandpaper to sand the entire piece which helped get rid of the bumps and added some beautiful distressing.  I wish that I had taken a better "after" picture, but you'll have to use your imaginations.  Does anyone have any suggestions for my next DIY chalk paint experience?  I love the feel of the final product, but I'm not sure that it was worth it...

Happy Junkin'!

Sarah