Our first attempt at chalk paint = Major Fail!

The internets is a wonderful thing, but it’s always best to do the research before making the mistakes. We sometimes forget that. If you’re a crafty person working on some fun projects of your own, here are some tips that took us awhile to figure out.

1. Chalk Paint kind of sucks. All of these distressed paint enthusiasts swear by it. Supposedly, no priming or sanding is necessary and you can paint on any surface. Bullshit! You need to prime and sand glossy surfaces or it will peel right off. You want to try chalk paint? Do it on a porous wood surface. You can distress with a wet cloth or sand, but this stuff MUST be sealed as well! Use wax or water based poly.

2. Mod Podge is God. Seal any collage with Pod Podge before using another sealer on top. We knew this already, so that’s a free tip we didn’t learn by mistake.

3. Not all resin is created equal. There are better brands and cheapo brands. But the most important thing we learned is to use a heat gun to remove bubbles!

4. Wood glue sucks. Useless. Liquid Nails rules!

5. You can’t seal patina effects. Well, you can, but it darkens it. The patina is meant to be exposed to air so it can continue to do it’s thing. We’ve tested it with water and it kind of washes away, so we end up sealing it when it’s going to be used for outdoors or as counter or backsplash.

Good luck and have fun crafting!