Winter projects - chalk paint and more

Because I am a blogger, I felt compelled to jump into the world of chalk paint.  Hey, even we bakers have to leave the kitchen every now and then.  Because I was too much of a cheap skate to spring for Annie Sloan, I used one of the many do it yourself chalk paint recipes I found online.  

Armed with left over front door paint and plaster of paris, I tackled the inside of my china cabinet.

I left the outside of the cabinet a creamy white, and took a chance by using a soft aqua blue on the inside.  I was soooooo scared to use a color like that, but when I was finished, I LOVED it!  

It seems like the projects that scare me the most usually end up being the ones I like best.  

Anyone else like that?

Because I have never used "real" chalk paint, I don't know how mine compared.  I liked the end result, but it was really funky to work with.  It kept thickening up on me, and was a bit lumpy, but maybe that is normal.  

While I was at it, I also painted a small area on my buffet, which I then embellished with a vintage French graphic.

I used acrylic craft paint for the design.  

Because I had a little chalk paint left over and was on a roll, I also painted a mirror that resides in the guest room.  

I topped everything off with a coat of dark antiquing wax followed by clear wax.  You can see how the dark wax really gets into the grooves to make details really pop.  

While I was busy painting, Mr. Enchanted was making us a new/old farm table.  My contribution to the effort was to distress it using a hammer, screws, and keys (this was the fun part!), and then staining and sealing it.  Mr. E did an amazing job on it, and I am thrilled with the results!

A less glamorous job was repainting all of the trim in the main level of the house.  No pictures of that - UGGG.

I moved on to the guest room, where I repainted the walls a creamy ivory and rearranged the furniture.  

Amazing what a gallon of paint will do - can I hear an amen?

Next up, was a fabulous/ugly lamp shade I found at an antique shop for $3.  It was covered in brown ruffles and could have won a prize for lampshade most in need of a makeover.  I pulled off the ruffles and added fringed burlap trim and a few silk flowers, because the shape had a bit of had a millinery feel to it.

And now for the biggest and worst project of all - reupholstering the dining room chairs.  My first challenge was to find a fabric that would hold up well, not show spills, and not to have a very obvious pattern repeat.  Oh, and it had to have red, green, ivory, and robin egg blue in it.  AND, not cost a fortune.  After hours of looking on Fabric guru, I found the steal of the century for $7 a yard!

Thank goodness Mr. E gave me a ton of help with this project, and the end result was worth every minute of pain!

No wonder I didn't get any cookies done in January!

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