Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Martha Stewart craft paint review and project

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you're probably sick of hearing me talk about my love affair with Martha Stewart's new craft paint line.  And no, I am not being paid to go on and on about this stuff (I wish I was!).

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First I was awestruck by the rainbow of amazing colors available in all sorts of finishes and their ability to paint on anything (wood, glass, plastic, fabric, metal, etc.), but what I really fell in love with was all of her specialty paints and finishes - specifically the magnetic and chalkboard paints.  I've seen these types of paint before at hardware stores, but only for upwards of $20 or so for a small container.  With my trusty Michael's coupons, I paid a grand total of $3.50 for the magnetic and $3.00 for the chalkboard paint.  And hey, slap a Martha Stewart logo on something and throw on some lovely packaging, and I'm pretty much sold before I even know what it is.  Sad, I know.

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When we moved into our new house, we were lucky enough to have an updated kitchen with one of those fancy, stainless steel refrigerators.  Attractive - yes.  But I was bummed out about it's un-magnetic capabilities.  So I decided to transform this skinny 2 foot wide section of wall into a magnetic chalkboard  

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I taped off a 14" x 56" rectangle and first painted it with 2 coats of the magnetic paint which used up the entire container - it is some really thick and gloopy paint - but of course myself and a couple of friends all squealed in delight when it actually held magnets :)  And then painted it with 2 coats of the chalkboard paint, which took about 1/2 of the bottle.

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Then I put my husband to work framing it out with some simple trim that he picked up from the hardware store (I have a bit of a difficult time cutting miters the correct length).  

Next on the agenda?  To whip up some cute magnets to accessorize this baby!  I'm thinking some of these, some of these, and definitely some of these.

Have any of you tried out these paints yet?  I'd love to see some of your projects!

4 comments:

  1. so fun! I love her new paint too, I looked at it today but couldn't decide what colors to get, didn't even see the chalkboard stuff, but yay!!!

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  2. So cute, Emily. I love watching your house transform into your home.

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  3. Thanks for pointing out those magnet tutorials... now I want to make the alphabet ones. :)

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  4. I've tried the chalkboard paint and it was a total disaster. I don't know how it worked so well for you--it was a headache for me, start to finish! I needed 10 coats for it not to be see-through, for one thing, and it stuck to the masking tape so badly I had to hold it down with my thumbnail to keep any of it stuck onto the actual surface. (It ended up with little nicks along the whole edge of all sides.) I was really not impressed! Have they changed the recipe for it or something? You seem to love yours.

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