A Homemade Chalk Recipe To Try (2024)

Adark color mirrored screen in my dining room seemed to be

calling out for a lighter, brighter color for Summer.

I have loved the turquoise furniture that I have been seeing
on Pinterest lately and wanted to give the screenthat shot of color.

Here is a photo from this past Springwhere the screen is in the background.

I have used and enjoyed painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

but I don't have a dealer in my town. I have seen other

didn't have all of those on hand when I got "the bug" to paint

the screen a happier color. What I did have was some left over

wall texture powder and some latex paints. The wall texture

powder looked like plaster of paris and the main ingredient was

calcium carbonate (both of which some people use for chalk paint).

The "recipe" I found that worked well for me was:

1 ounce of latex or acylicpaint

1 heaping tablespoon of powderedwall texture

1 tablespoon of water

I mixed the paint and powder together first.

When it started getting too thick to blend anymore,

I added the water.

Try to smash any lumps of the powder up. You can

adjust the amounts of ingredients if needed.

Some folks like a thicker or thinner paint.

If you are painting a larger piece, use the same proportions

but just mix up a bigger batch of the home made chalk paint.

This screen has been painted several times in the past.

All I did to prep the screen for this painting was to dust

it welland tape off the mirrors with Frog Tape.

at Lowe's for only $3 each. They have good colors pre-mixed.

I like all ofthe blue/green color samples butwanted

the overall look to be more on the turquoiseside so

the light green was painted on for the first coat.

I am on a layered color techniquekickright now.

You could paint a projectin one color with this paint mix.

The second color painted on in blotches was the light blue.

It was also mixed with the wall texture and water.

At Haven, I was able to purchase a "Miss Mustard Seed" t-shirt

from her...she only brought a few. She said that she used to sell

them in her space at Luckett's and may have them re-printed.

Just having Marion's t-shirt on made it more fun painting.

The Valspar turquoise was pretty...

...but I wanted it MORE turquoise so I also used the "recipe"

with craft paint in the sameratio of paint/wall texture/water.

The craft paint color was called "Bahama".Using craft paint

opens up a bigrange of colors that can be made into chalk paint.

After sanding the screen to blend the colors together,

Irubbed ona coat of clear Johnson'spaste wax (at most stores).

The paint dried pretty quickly after each coat

andseems to stick well.Its does sand pretty easily but

I was in a hurry to finish this screen and had to

change from the 120 grit sandpaper to 60 grit

to get quicker results due tothe paint'sgood adhesion.

The wall texture does have a small amount

of mica in it so don't sand a large piece of furniture in a

small area (or if you do, wear a mask to limit inhalation).

I was happy with the blend of colors that emerged.

The screen now reflects the "cousin color" that was

that is also in the dining room.

The mirrored screen also reflects the new cream

I tried this same paint "recipe" on another small project

(faux lobster trap floats) and was pleased with the results.

If you try this homemade chalk mix,attempt it on a small scale

at first to see if it works for you and/or if you need to

"tweak" the "recipe" toget the lookyou want toachieve.

Just FYI:

Idid not have to sand or prime my piece to make the

paint mix adhere but a slick surface might require that.

I only mixed theamount of paintat a timethat I could

use within the hour. If the paint started to get too thick

I would just add a little more water and mix it in.

I don't think this mix could

be pre-made and saved for future use.

The wall texture can be found in the sheetrock section

of home improvement stores.The box I havewas $14 for a

15 pound box...maybe they make a smaller box now.

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