Weathered Wood And Tiffany Blue Chalk Paint

Y’all know how I love my chalk paint, but you never hear me talk about spray paint. Whilespray paint has ts place, there are times it can be very unwelcome.
  I wish you could’ve seen this before I gave it a chalk paint makeover. It was a shiny red and, along with its charming shape, was the other atribute that caught my attention. I thought the red would be a good base for some chalk paint layers. I was starting a paint-removing project on a different piece and, well, I had the paint-stripper container open, so…… Since it was spur of the moment, I didn’t bother to take a picture of it when it was red. Please think carefully before spray-painting raw wood. It’s fine for ugly plastic and metal, but raw wood has a thirsty, porous grain. There was not 1, not 2, but 3 coats of spray paint on this little treasure. Under the red was lavender, and under that was white. I realized I’d opened a can of worms, and decided to persevere to the bare wood. Although I used a good orange stripper, I finally had to use acetone, steel wool and a wire brush to get into the crevices of the wood grain, primarily on the side pieces (inside and out). I have a feeling that water-based paint would’ve been easier to remove. It's important to mention that I would've never used a wire brush on precious antique wood.   Once the paint was finally gone, the wood was ready for some chalk paint. But before that, I had another brainstorm. I recently tried my hand at wood-ebonizing. I’ve seen so many blog posts about the magical process of steel wool, vinegar and tea, to grey raw wood to look weathered. My vinegar solution was a few weeks old already, which made the magic happen even faster and darker.   Before Ebonizing:
After Ebonizing:
This is how the caddy looked after the ebonizing process. It is my understanding that if you don’t want it to be this dark, you can dilute your solution with more vinegar before you apply it. I could’ve stopped there, but I just really wanted some color, yet still keep it looking worn and weathered.Chalk  Paint over Ebonizing:
Although I am quite smitten with red, the divine Tiffany blue was calling to me. I really like the contrast of the warm aqua next to the cool dark grey. I also thought it would be a fun juxtaposition to have the elegance associated with Tiffany blue paired with a rustic grey.
I only painted the outer shell of the tote, leaving the dividers and dowel handle grey to make them more of a focal point. I was able to sand off some of the aqua paint without exposing the un-aged wood color. As usual, I sealed the whole piece with clear wax.
I don’t have any big, future plans to strip any more wood, but I did really enjoy
the ebonizing magic,
so I’m sure I’ll try that again.
Mia Magia does mean “My Magic”,
after all……. Come Join Me on Instagram! @MagiaMiaEtsy