Interiors to Inspire *class*

This past Friday night I took a class at Interiors to Inspire.   It's a local store here in Calgary and the girls here are so friendly and helpful.  This year I've been having a hard time getting to all my DIY projects due to lack of time so decided to take an evening for myself and take this class "Garden Friends".   Hoping it will inspire me to finish a few projects of my own - and that it did!

We started with these two adorable raw pieces and painted them with the first coat of Annie Sloan chalk paint.  This is the base coat that will show through on the finished product.  I chose antique white for my bird and grey for my owl.  

Choosing the paint colours was the hardest part of this class as they have so many beautiful colours to choose from.

The bird was then painted with a thin crackle medium and, after letting him dry for about 20 minutes, I put the final coat of paint on.  Choosing pink.  I lightly sanded him to bring out the antique white colour underneath which gave him that weathered look.  Up close you can see the fine cracks that the crackle medium created.

I rubbed the entire owl with a piece of candle wax and then painted him with the bright red paint.  I used a light sanding pad all over and removed the paint from the parts of the owl that were waxed letting the grey show through.  

Everybody's turned out completely different and they all looked amazing.  It was such a fun group of girls (10 in total) and Interiors to Inspire provided drinks and snacks and lots of laughter.

I put my bird on a shelf in my bedroom and my owl is in my kitchen.

I can't wait to take another class from these ladies.  If you are in Calgary, you have to check them out.  They will help you with any project and for a small fee, you can use their workshop where they will give you ideas, guide you through your project and keep the mess out of your house!