Get Over Your Fear Of Milk Paint: Take a Class!
I’m still a little giddy with excitement over the Milk Paint Class I taught on Sunday. It’s always fun for me to see people discover Milk Paint. But this class was especially fun because the creations were so cool. I usually do a Milk Paint 101 class with some sample boards and the opportunity to try some of the paint colors and finishes. Then students can take those skills and work some magic on any projects they might have waiting at home. This time I decided to have students take a more hands on approach with an actual take home project.
An Ikea step stool is a really great project to start with if you are unsure of Milk Paint and just want to try it on something small. After a quick how to mix Milk Paint demo, these creative ladies got to painting.
I was excited to see the color combos they choose. I tend to stick with white and gray and neutrals. They just fit my style. So to see Cobalt, Ocean, Love Bug Yellow, and Artichoke Green chosen as colors for the step stools is pretty fun. Plus, everyone had a different vision or use for their step stool.
While the paint was drying I wanted everyone to get a feel for how Milk Paint chips. Since we were painting unfinished wood there wouldn’t be much chipping. But everyone did use some shellac first to give their step stools a cool crackled effect. You can see how to do that here. I had everyone paint a mason jar too. Some of them chipped a little, some of them chipped a lot.
We did some layering of the paints so that when they were distressed the base color would show through. I love this black/green combo.
Luckily, we had nice weather for quick drying and outdoor sanding. These ladies learned quickly how durable and tough Milk Paint is. They had to put some elbow grease into that sanding!
But the end results were so awesome!
Look at that finish! It’s so buttery smooth! And I love the distressed look of the Ocean Milk Paint coming through the Denim Milk Paint.
And the Lantern Milk Paint popping through the Artichoke Green paint.
How about some Cobalt showing through some Creamy white paint?
I also brought maps to decoupage on the step stool and Alice found one of her daughter’s neighborhood in Brooklyn to add to her step stool. What a great way to make a personal gift for someone special!
It was such a fun class and I’m going to be having another one on April 19th @The Spotted Cow Vintage in Walnut Creek, CA. So if you are in the area I’d love to have you join me for a class. Also check out the other workshops while you are at it. The Spotted Cow offers painting with Chalk/Clay based paint classes, craft classes, succulent classes and more! You can register by calling the store 925-933-7768.
