I purchased this plain jane bench on Friday at a garage sale for only $2.
Eeek! When he told me how much it was, I couldn't get my money out fast enough to buy it!
I was so excited to turn it into a photography prop!
How cute will that be??? I knew I would want to paint in chalk paint!
I went out Saturday, bought some paint, wax, and Plaster of Paris. Amazon sells it the cheapest so far that I've seen.
Mix 2 1/2 tablespoons of Plaster of Paris with 2 tablespoons of water. Mix it with a plastic fork to make it a nice consistency. Then add it to 8 oz of paint.
I love samplers! I buy mine at Home Depot for only $3. They are perfect for small furniture projects. They come in 8 oz containers. You pick the color out an they mix it for you. This color is called Surfer. However, I wanted it to be more Turquoise, so after realizing it was lighter than I wanted I added some blue paint to make it darker and richer.
So, my advice is if you like the end result of the bench, then I would go with a shade darker than Surfer.
I first added some wood filler glue, to the seating part. It had a rusted nail poking through, which is Nooo Bueno! I let that dry over a 6 hour period. Then I began painting it with just a plain ole sponge brush. The great thing about chalk paint is it doesn't leave streaks. I don't know why, but it doesn't. I painted the first coat on Saturday night, and then another coat Sunday night.
Then today I lightly sanded it.
After sanding it I then began rubbing on this wax by MiniWax.
I rubbed it on with an old t shirt, however if you have a fancy waxing brush or machine, by all means go with the good stuff. I am too frugal to buy the nice stuff, lol.
Maybe one day I will find one at a thrift store or Goodwill. Ha, highly unlikely!
I rubbed it all over the bench except on the edges. On the edges I drizzled of blackish brown paint (that I already have for a future project) and mixed it with about a table spoon of wax.
By the way these little mixing tray you keep seeing are Lean Cuisine frozen dinner tray. I wash mine out after I am done and use them for everything from painting, to mixing stuff to holding decoupage. They work great! And I am not having to waste a paper plate or plastic cup., and they are better because its more like a bowl.
Then, you rub it on the edges or anywhere you want it to become darker. It just really brings out the depth and makes it look more antiqued.
I am not in love with the final product :( I really wished I would have put Vaseline around certain spots of the bench before I painted it, so it would just chip instead of me having to sand it. I feel like it doesn't look naturally shabby chic.
But... I still think it will be Super Cute in my kid photo shoots!
Thanks for tuning in!
