Wednesday 12 February 2014

Chalk Paint™ - Decorative tray

Since my first re-finishing project with Chalk Paint™ I am hooked and currently have a number of projects on the go. I haven't used Chalk Paint™ for any decorative painting yet, so I decided to try a quick project with a dark wooden tray. The tray was made by a young friend of my mothers who started a business some years ago creating kitchen products out of recycled timber, I didn't want to part with the tray as I know it was special to mum, however I wanted to lighten it up. My inspiration for this project comes from the Mediterranean style house & garden I featured recently and the laden olive tree in the garden. Using an olive branch as inspiration I had a fair idea of what I wanted to achieve.

 The before, a perfectly good tray but just not the look I wanted

I apologise to those of you who love dark wood and also apologise to my mothers friend for painting over their lovely logo

Chalk Paint™ in Pure White, you could use 'Old White' but this does tend to be a little creamy, I wanted a clean, fresh white and 'Pure White' I knew was perfect.

Tools:
  • Annie Sloan Paint brush 
  • Artists paint brush, preferably a decorative brush, synthetic with lots of bounce to the tip. I used a No.10 for the leaves and olives and a long, thin rigger brush for the branches
  • Chalk Paint™ Pure white
  • Paint for olive branch: Old White, French Linen, Graphite, Paris Grey (test pots are sufficient)
  • Annie Sloan Clear Wax
  • Annie Sloan Dark Wax


Above: I used three coats of  'Pure white' paint allowing an hour drying time between 2 coats and overnight between the last coat. As the paint was very thick, I used disposable wooden chopsticks to stir it really well, they are perfect little tools. I have been told that 'Pure White' doesn't cover as well as old white, hence the extra coat of paint but this is only in cases where you are covering a very dark colour underneath.

My tray &  inspiration, waiting for the next step...

My paint colours:
  • French linen was a perfect colour for my branches, I added just the tiniest touch of Graphite to darken it a little
  • I mixed a tiny touch of graphite into some French Linen for leaves, adding a little sap green acrylic paint from a tube (the reason being, I had no green chalk paint)
  • I mixed half Graphite and half French linen for nice ripe olives
Above: I first painted my main branches, then added the little off shoot branches my leaves would come off. The longer off shoots would have an olive at the end. I used the 'rigger' brush for this

Above: My completed olive branch which is a little off centre on the tray but I actually quite like it, I could have added another branch to balance it but feel it is fine as is.  I forgot to take a before photo so this one is after sanding which I will explain below:

  • After completing my olive branch, I decided to sand before I waxed, this is quite messy and you get drifts of what appears like chalk dust settling on and around your tray, usually you would wax first but as this was a small item I wanted to experiment with an idea.
  • I took some fine grade sandpaper and sanded gently along some of the edges of the tray, missing some parts to give it an antique appearance. I also sanded parts of the sides and bottom of tray to show some of the original dark wood (as seen above).
  • As I sanded the dry paint, chalk powder drifted across my tray. Using a 'damp' not 'wet' cloth to wipe away the excess chalk, I wiped the excess from the inside edges of the tray then wiped it across the top of the olive branch. This gave a translucent white wash effect to the painted branch, which looked great.
  • I allowed it to dry then brushed the whole tray over with a coat of clear wax allowing it to dry for around 15 minutes. I then buffed it up in a circular motion until it started to shine.  I allowed it time to dry and then gave it another coat of clear wax and a buff (this seals the paint and helps protect the tray).
  • I used a very small amount of dark wax which I applied to a cloth and wiped across random areas, wiping off gently but immediately to leave a little showing.
  • I allowed it time to dry then applied a final, thin coat of clear wax and gave it a really good polish using a soft muslin cloth, working again in circular motions.


I am pleased with my results which gave my tray a completely fresh new look. I am already working on my next project, a piano stool I am re-finishing for my bedroom. If you have attempted any projects yourself using Annie's paint, I would love to hear about them, especially if your in New Zealand as the product hasn't been here very long and we are still all learning about is amazing uses.


I will be sharing this post with the following blogs:
Miss Mustard Seed

Please note this is not a sponsored post







22 comments:

  1. Hi Lee - The tray turned out so pretty. Love the hand-painted olive branches!

    Mary @ Orphans With Makeup

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    1. Thanks Mary, most definitely take that as a compliment from such a talented refinisher :)

      Lee

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  2. Love your makeover on the tray! Very pretty!

    Judy

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  3. Oh. my. goodness! love it! the hand painting is fabulous :) xoxo

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    1. Thanks Kelly, the painting could have been better but I was making do with some brushes I already had. You need a brush with a lot of spring to be able to have control over the chalk paint, soft brushes just went...blah!

      Lee :)

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  4. Very nice, but I like both versions! The white looks so good though, and your branch is a great touch~
    Jenna

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    1. thank you Jenna, I must pop over and see what you paint. I am a fine artist who normally works on a very large scale canvas, fiddly little painting like the olive tree wasn't easy as my brushes didn't really suit the chalk paint.

      Lee :)

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  5. Love the tray, Iam fortunate to be an Annie Sloan stockist in ontario Canada, and I have several trays on the go. So enjoyed this post a lot. Come and visit me at teacoziecottage.blogspot.ca
    Betty

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    1. Thank you for visiting from Ontario Betty, I will take a look at your website, I would love to see some of your trays, most definitely will come and visit.

      Lee :)

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  6. The tray is lovely. I actually bought some chalk paint. Inspiration from folks like you will get me moving.

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  7. Great Beth, I like to hear comments like this, its all about inspiring people and if you already have the paint you are a step ahead. I would advise you to start with a small item and then move onto something larger. You will have such fun it is a really simple product to use, but I cannot impress enough that you need to get the clear wax to finish off your item. The wax adds protection and seals it against damage.

    Lee :)

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  8. This tray looks lovely, good job!
    Thanks for your great blog, I love it, it's full of inspirations!
    xx

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    1. Thanks Camille, hope you come back again for more inspiration :)

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  9. Ficou muito melhor que antes, adorei. Um bj no seu coração.

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  10. Your updated tray is so pretty. I love the hand painting.

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    1. Thank you Dee, the painting is not difficult to do, you don't need artist skills to do simple images and there are always stencils that can help if you want something more precise.

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Thank you for your time to leave a comment, I ♥ to read your comments and try to reply to them all.