Chalk Paint Makeovers for Thrift Finds

3 Materials
$10
2 Hours
Easy

I love thrift store finds for a few reasons, not only do you get an item at a reduced cost from the original purchase price but you get the opportunity to be creative. You'll often find items that appeal to you in shape and size for your home yet the item might not match your decor. Such as was the case with these two odd finds, a blue tray and a pottery jug.

Both projects were painted and updated with the same color palette to match my daughter's decor. White chalk paint and a periwinkle shade of blue crafters paint. By mixing a drop or two or even more of the blue you'll be able to mix many shades of blue.

So first was the tray, I painted it all over with a couple of coats of the white chalk paint since the blue pattern was still showing after the first boat.

Once I had the tray covered well with the white and it had dried well, I used a high grit sandpaper to sand areas for a distressed look. You'll see the original shade of the blue tray is apparent once I sanded. The key to distressing is to sand edges and areas that would get the most wear and tear with repeated use of that item

Here is the finished look with a blue hydrangea arrangement that nicely accents the underlying blue in the tray.

* Color variation is from taking some pics with natural light and others with artificial lighting.

The next item was the pottery jug, again given a good solid base coat with the white paint. I eyeballed the jug into thirds to create a color fade look from dark blue to light blue to white. The colors were created by adding drops of blue crafters paint to the chalk paint in varying amounts. I blotted the medium blue paint on with a sponge brush or you could use a regular household sponge. I started about two thirds of the way down, working from the bottom to the top. As you near the edge of this color layer you need to make sure your sponge barely has any paint left in it. Doing so enables you get to blend into that next shade above to create the ombre look.

The bottom blue was created by adding more drops of the blue crafters paint into the white. Again when your foam brush is freshly loaded with paint pat and dab working your way from the very bottom up to the next color with the lightest amount of paint remaining in your sponge. As you blend colors try a lighter hand when tapping the brush, this helps too.

Here's a close up of the blending, it takes a bit of patience but it's easy when working with these water based paints.

So for a few bucks, a little patience and time you can create matching decor for your home from mismatched thrift store finds! I hope this is a simple, quick project that you'll try as well now that I've given you a little inspiration.

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  1 question
  • Marlowe Marlowe on Dec 20, 2018

    Where do you get the caulk paint?

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  • Val Val on Dec 05, 2018

    I love that you turned these items into pretty pieces that suit your home, you have great vision to see them anew and talent to do so. They both got a much needed revival and look lovely.

  • Kat Rogers Kat Rogers on Dec 15, 2018

    You're such a Good & Thoughtful Mom to think about doing something so creative and time consuming for your daughter... It's quite a special trait. Ànd They Came Out So Cute! I would've loved to have seen a picture of them displayed in her room.

    • Kat Rogers you are so kind your comments made me smile! The flower in the tray is on her table in her new house. There were two vases, the second one she took on painting herself after I left, we are on opposite ends of the country! She told me they are together now in her front entry. Thanks so very much.

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