Rainy Day Rainbow Projects: Part 2

Welcome back to ways to entertain your children (or parents) at home with a little Chalk Paint®! If you missed Part 1, catch up here.

Project Three – by Sophie (5), with assistance from Mum, furniture painter Kate of High Birch Interiors

At 5, Sophie is officially our youngest ever contributor to the Annie Sloan blog! For this reason, Sophie needed an extra helping hand from Mum.

For Sophie’s project you will need:

• Chalk Paint® in your favourite colours (Sophie used Provence, English Yellow, Scandinavian Pink, Antoinette, Emperor’s Silk and Pure)
• Clear Chalk Paint® Wax
• A brush (Sophie used Annie’s Medium Chalk Paint® Brush)
• A piece of lint-free cloth (an old t shirt or pair of cotton boxers will be sufficient). 
• Tape – Kate and Sophie used frog tape but masking tape or packing tape will also suffice.
• A tray to paint. This can even be an old plastic tray although wood will be easiest, especially if your Chalk Paint® assistant is as young as Sophie!
• Optional: a stencil to add to your tray to give extra character.

Instructions:

1. First, Sophie’s Mum Kate helped her by taping off sections of the tray. (Top tip: Kate taped sections of different sizes and got Sophie to start with the edges and then work her way inwards. This allowed each paint stripe to dry fully before Kate applied the next bit of tape).

2. Then Sophie got stuck into painting! I love the colours she chose for this project.

3. Chalk Paint® is water based and extremely low in VOCs. (VOCs are chemicals that are added to paint to help it last longer. They’re good for paint, but they’re not so good for humans, which is why I only uses trace amounts in the Chalk Paint® recipe). This means it’s easy to clear up if you get any on your clothes – just take your clothes off straight away (not all your clothes! Just the clothes with paint on! Stop taking your clothes off you silly goose!). Then wash the paint away with more water. Try to skip this step if possible!

4. Sophie wanted to personalise her tray with an “S” stencil. If you don’t have any stencils at home you can find lots online to print off, trace onto cardboard, and cut out. Definitely get an adult to help with this.

5. Allow your Chalk Paint® base to dry completely before adding your stencil. Tape the stencil in place to avoid any smudging. Then paint your design in a contrasting colour.

6. Leave your Chalk Paint® to dry completely. This is a good time to finalise plans on the rocket ship you are building to get to Mars, read your favourite book, or hoover the living room.

7. Next, apply Clear Chalk Paint® Wax to your tray to finish and protect your beautiful work! Sophie used a Wax Brush but you can use a lint free cloth and massage the wax into the paint gently so that it soaks in properly.

8. Allow to dry fully then take lots of photos to show your friends and family!

Project Four – by Evan (11)

Our final rainbow Chalk Paint® project is by Evan, 11. Evan’s Mum is an official Annie Sloan Stockist and at her shop, Five Fields, Evan has painted loads of brilliant projects (including a bath). Evan lives in Canada and has been attending school through Google hangouts during the pandemic. He wanted a cool backdrop to cheer his friends up and he knew Chalk Paint® was the only answer!

All you need to Chalk Paint® your own video call backdrop is:

• Your favourite selection of Chalk Paint® colours (from left to right, Evan used: Paloma, Burgundy, Barcelona Orange, English Yellow, Amsterdam Green, Aubusson Blue and Athenian Black)
• A wooden board large enough to cover the wall behind your desk
• A paint brush (Evan used Annie's Chalk Paint® Brush)
• Clear Chalk Paint® Wax

Instructions:

1. First, Evan painted strips of colour down his wooden board. Because he’s something of a pro and a very creative and confident artist he didn’t need to use masking tape for his rainbow pattern. This also means he didn't wait for each colour to dry before adding the next one, blending the colours next to each other. I love the artistic flare! 

If you’re less confident the use masking tape to create a guide. Spots are a good pattern too – and you can use bowls and plates of different sizes to make circles in all kind of shapes on your backdrop. You could use blue and yellow to paint a starry night sky. Or perhaps you’re more of a wild child – why not use a base of Barcelona Orange then add wiggly stripes of Athenian Black for a roarsome tiger print background! 

2. Once you're happy with your design and the Chalk Paint® is completely dry, make sure to apply Chalk Paint® Wax. This will mean you can pick your backdrop up and move it around without messing up your finish! 

3. Finally, take lots of photos to show your friends and family. Perhaps you can Zoom your grandparents and show them your colourful creativity – and your lovely face (even if your face isn’t lovely, I guarantee your grandparents like it). Use the hashtags #AnnieSloan and #ChalkPaint if you share on social media for the chance to be featured on Annie’s pages!

Please let us know in the comments if you tried any of these ideas and how successful they were! I'd love to hear from the next generation of Chalk Paint® maestros!

Yours, 


Annie.