Kids' Beachy Rocking Chair

Whew! What a week! I feel so bad for not having posted since last Monday… but I don’t regret a week away from everything with my sweetheart :) Hubby and I actually got to have an entire week of just the two of us—without kiddos! Woohoo! They went to Grandma’s while we took our church youth group to a Christian teen conference, and then went to my brother’s wedding! This is the first time we’ve been away from them for more than a day… but we had a blast anyway :)

Remember in my last post (about my beloved Union Jacques) I told you I had finished three projects in one day? Well, I’ve been dying to show you the other ones… So here’s Project #2!

The grandparents had bought my kiddos a pair of these little rockers for Christmas two years ago... and they had definitely seen better days! One chair was broken beyond repair, so I disassembled it and stashed the parts for a future project (shhhhh... Don’t tell my husband!) ;) The other chair was still in pretty sad shape. One of the chair slats was broken off, and the shiny paint finish was chipped and peeling.

Because of the oiliness of the finish, I wasn’t sure whether regular paint would even stick to it or not. So I grabbed my trusty standby: CHALK PAINT! (The leftovers from my console table project—it stores very well in a sealed Tupperware container… just add a tad more water when you’re ready to use it again!)

I literally painted this fella on my kitchen counter, right before bed-time! :) It took two coats to completely cover the red, but it did the job! (So far, this chalk paint has lived up to its “stick-to-anything” reputation—I tell you, I’m addicted to this stuff!) It still looked like it was missing something, though… and literally in my sleep that night, I realized what it needed! (Anyone else dream about their projects… or am I the only crazy/obsessed one?)

I sanded the chalk paint smooth, then taped off the two center slats, and a matching stripe on the chair back and front. (Sorry, no measuring here, either… I am a proud member of the Eyeball-It-All-the-Way Club!) I also taped off the round ball finials on the top. Then I dry-brushed them in with regular semi-gloss white paint, to create a slightly-worn, intentionally imperfect, beachy stripe!

Doesn’t it look like it belongs on the porch of a beach or lakefront cottage?

  Parties I link to:

Sunday:

• Southern Hospitality Blog: Thrifty Treasures

Monday:

• Jam's Corner: Marvelous Mondays Link Party

Tuesday:

• Adventures Of a DIY Mom: Terrific Tuesdays
• Mercy Ink Blog: All Things Heart & Home Link-up
• My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday's Treasures
• Uncommon: Uncommonly Yours Link Party
• The Winthrop Chronicles: Share It Link Party 

Wednesday:

• Embracing Change: Creative Inspirations Link Party
• Hooking Up w/ House of Hepworths
• Vintage Gwen: Show & Share

Thursday:

• My Repurposed Life: Catch As Catch Can
The Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday
Two Yellow Birds Decor: Thursday's Temptation

Friday:

• Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: Flaunt It Friday
• Decorating Insanity: Furniture Friday
• Five Days, Five Ways: Feature Friday Free-for-All
• Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
• Two Sasters: TGIF Party

Saturday:

• It's Overflowing: Overflowing with Creativity Party