"Crack is whack!"--Whitney Houston

I’m a big fan of the shabby chic style of decorating.  I love big flower prints, ruffles and cracked paint.  I love it despite my husband’s confusion over the idea that I would want to buy things that look used.  I love it despite Tori Spelling selling all of her shabby chic furniture in a yard sale and declaring it dead a few years ago.  I never thought my husband and Tori Spelling would agree on anything! 

Crackle medium is this crafty girl’s best friend.  It can make anything have the aged look that defines shabby chic.  It’s super easy to use.  Paint a layer of paint.  Let it dry.  Paint a layer of crackle.  Let it dry.  Paint a top layer of paint.  Let it crackle then dry. 

My sister and I spent a Saturday afternoon a few weekends ago in Savers (a giant thrift store chain in case you don’t know) where I found this jewelry box which seemed to have time travelled back from 1985.  Can you just imagine a teenage girl keeping her Swatch watch  and bangled bracelets in it?

I had been looking for something small to hold the jewelry I wear most.  However, in the above condition, it didn’t really fit in with my décor unless I planned to hang up some posters of Madonna and Scott Baio.  I paid the $4.99 for it and made big plans to make it shabby chic.  Luckily, several days later Arkansas was hit by the Snowpocolypse of 2011 which left me home from work for a few days to craft to my heart’s content.

 

I began by taking off the hardware on the front of the jewelry box and doing a little sanding.  There was a tense moment when I couldn’t find my sanding block and thought I was going to have to use a finger nail file. 

I painted on the base coat, a dark brown—though I plan to use a more bold color on my next project—and let it dry.  Then I added the crackle medium which paints on clear and running.  I let each application dry for about twenty-five minutes each or in my case one episode of The IT Crowd.

The next part is a little tricky.  I would advise anyone using crackle medium for the first time to practice on something you don’t mind messing up just to get the feel for it.  The best technique I have found is to put the final layer of paint on as thick as possible in the first pass. The paint begins to crack very quickly and painting a second coat might cause the paint to crumble.  Use a lot of paint, and paint fast.

This is the final result.  I’m pretty pleased with it…even if Tori Spelling wouldn’t be.