Who would've thunk... I'm in Better Homes & Gardens!

That's right! Our holiday crafting last season made the cut and now we are in Better Homes & Garden's Christmas Ideas 2012 on newsstands now!
 
I work for a company named Salt Harbor Designs & Harborside Event Rentals. We specialize in full event planning, directing, floral, paper design and specialty rentals for weddings around the Southeastern North Carolina area. We never thought our Christmas decorating and crafting would be a hit to other people. We just enjoy being creative and acting on an idea that one of us has. In this case it was, "let's get together and do holiday crafts one night, want to?" "Yes, and let's bring food!"

What we first thought was a basic holiday crafting night with our local friends and coworkers of Salt Harbor Designs, Harborside Event Rentals, The Atrium & Millie Holloman Photography became a fully decorated event, photo shoot, crafting and potluck dinner! Millie of Millie Holloman Photography and Jen, owner of Salt Harbor Designs, later submitted our photos for the holiday issue of Better Homes & Gardens and they loved it. And here we are...

We are excited to announce that in December this year we will be crafting and wrapping several days a week at The Atrium. We will teach you everything we know about holiday crafting and you too can make paper trees, book page wreaths, moss tress and tree-band napkin rings!

More details on sign up for our holiday crafting on our facebook pages and e-newsletter soon!

Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint

A few months ago, my good friend Tessa invited me to come to a Girls' Nite Out event she put together for the magazine Focus on the Coast here in Wilmington. This was not a typical night out on the town with the girls... it was better! We were going to DISTRESS and PAINT furniture. We met at a local business called, Budget ReDesign, that specializes in distressing furniture with the key product, Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan.

About Chalk Paint:

Annie Sloan developed her now famous Chalk Paint to answer the need she had for a paint which would have many uses from acting like limewash to looking like old painted furniture and that had a good range of colour that could be extended by the user. This paint is very easy to work with and allows people to be creative as one doesn't get involved with the technicalities of preparation and it also allows you to change your mind without hassle.

Add a little water to it to make it smooth, thicken it up by leaving the lid off if you want to make it thicker, make it into a wash by adding even more water to it. Use flat brushes for a smooth look or bristle brushes for a more textured aged look. Chalk paint is water based and comes in 29 fantastic colors that you can mix and adapt to your project.

 We were told to bring in a piece of furniture that needed to be brought back to life. I brought a little end table that I got from my company who was finished with it after a few photo shoots. It was originally a red table and now had several coats of paint on it, light blue, white, then black. My friend Tessa, also brought in her entry way table that was rustic black and brown.

Wiping down the piece before painting

Tessa painting from the bottom to the top

There are so many great things about Chalk Paint but to me the best part about it is that you don't have to sand it down or prime it before you paint! You can also paint on any surface... metal, wood, or plastic. It's very flexible so you can be creative and change your mind half way through to another color. You can also use this paint outdoors, on your kitchen cabinets or on your walls!

STEP by STEP:

1. Wiped our piece of furniture down

2. Added our first color of paint (that would be seen through after sanding)

3. Added our second color painted on all parts

4. Added dark wax in corners and on edges

5. Rubbed back with fine sand paper 

6. Finished off with a coat of wax 

Here's my finished piece at home.

The entire GNO group at Budget ReDesign

 

To bring a group to Budget ReDesign or buy Chalk Paint you can go to www.budgetredesign.com