Today's Guest Chocoholic: Charm Bracelet Diva!

I'm absolutely thrilled to be guest-posting here today for my good friend Carol at

The Answer Is Chocolate!

Hi!  I'm Kathleen from Charm Bracelet Diva.  

Charm Bracelet Diva is where I share my love of all things vintage, shabby, chipped, Goodwill~ed (yes, that's a word in my world!) and repurposed.  In fact, my husband believes that Goodwill is practically my second home!  My blog started out as a handmade jewelry blog, but it has since grown to include DIY crafts and home decor as well.

Here are a few of my projects:

Ballard Designs-inspired Gilded Chalkboard

Pottery Barn-inspired Book Bundles

Vintage Watch and Charm Necklace

Pottery Barn-inspired Candles

Monogrammed Flour Sack Pillow

Vintage Charm Bracelet

So today I'd like to share with you my first experience with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).  The blog world has been abuzz with reviews of her paint for a while now, so why not get on the bandwagon too?

First off, let me say that I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to painting furniture.  But why should that stop me?  I've been itching to try ASCP for quite a while now but was hesitant to fork over the $$$$$cash.  I finally gave in and ordered it, using some hard-earned jewelry sale money.I purchased Paris Grey.

From the get-go I had an old chair in mind to experiment with.  It has sentimental value for me ~ it was my Mom and Dad's, and it graced their bedroom for many, many years before I inherited it.  It's at least 60-plus years old.

O.K., so it's definitely seen better days.

The cool thing is that it folds flat.  I thought that was pretty neat.

Sorry for the dark photo but it's all I've got.

I also had a seat cover in mind.

I picked this up at a local flea market after many months of searching.  It wasn't pristine by any means but hey, it's a grainsack for pete's sake.  It's what they call c-h-a-r-m-i-n-g.

First I pulled out all the staples underneath the seat, removing the upholstery, such as it were.  I then used the very old floral fabric as a pattern for my grainsack.  Once this was done I moved on to the painting.

After discovering some cracks on the chair back, I made sure I glued them down with wood glue and clamped them overnight.

Here are the cracks after I glued and sanded.  Hopefully you're saying, "Cracks, what cracks?"

I need to confess here that I'm a pretty impatient DIYer, so I just jumped right in with the painting.  Luckily with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint you don't have to prime or sand before you paint!  I also only did one coat because some certain guest blog post had to be done by a certain date and I had a full weekend coming up that did not involve painting OR blogging! 

Sadly, I don't think the one coat did a good job covering the original finish, despite claims that this paint will cover almost anything in one coat.  I also don't think it looks very grey, more like white.

Clearly I sanded (yes it sands nicely, and look out cause there's a LOT of dust!) but I didn't use any wax.  SO.....who knows what two coats and some wax would have done for the overall appearance?  I think I really have to get used to looking at it.  I mean, my whole life I've been used to seeing this.

And now I have this.

Thoughts?

I'm sure there are a lot more ASCP experiments in my future.......I mean who knows?  I also have my parents' entire bedroom suite including a bedside table, 3 (!) dressers, a headboard and a huge, ornate, killer mirror. 

 {I'm doin' the happy dance!}    

Okay, so there you have it.  Thanks for playing, and please make sure you stop by Charm Bracelet Diva real soon and say hello!  I'd love for you to follow me, and maybe join in on one of my Tuesday Club G.W. parties.  
You can learn about them here.  (They're really all about those  trash treasures you find at Goodwill and thrift stores and yard sales and antique stores...get the idea yet?)

And finally, thanks go out to my friend Carol, for the chance to post on her awesome blog!

xoxo