Love is in the air! Oh, wait, no...that's the smell of chalk paint and crackle paste!
Do you remember my amazingly wonderful friend Mandy, and her amazingly wonderful guy Aaron?!
They are FINALLY getting married on Saturday! I'm so happy for them because they are really so perfect for each other and they both just make life better for anyone they meet. I love them both almost as much as the next couple I'm going to introduce you to.
You've already met the OTHER guy in Mandy's life in a previous post....
Well, Aaron will be happy to know that Apolo has found himself another woman.
She is equally as solid as Apolo, although I can't help but feel that neither of them are really grounded. They just seem to be missing something, but I just can't put my finger on it.
It was love at first sight for both of them, they hardly took their eyes off of each other all night!
Anyway, last night I spent the night with both of them.
They got a couples makeover.
We started with an ASCP de-stressing application...
One more perfect project for chalk paint!
Here's Apolo with a partial coat of Annie Sloan Country Grey.
Just wanted you to see the difference from where he was to the color coat.
Here is the happy couple discussing wether Apolo's tan looks fake or not. Athena is a little jealous, but that was soon remedied...
Next, they both got a mud bath.
I used some McClosky's Special Effects Crackle Paste that I recently got for 50% off at my local hardware store. I've used it before and thought it would be good for this application. Really there are lots of crackle ideas out there, but this is what I landed on.
I didn't bother with brushes or anything fancy, just my trusty gloves and a fist-full of paste!
I just smooshed (technical term) it here and there and smoothed it out with my fingers as best I could.
I worked it into some of the cracks and left it out of others.
It was a real HANDS ON type of therapy for both Athena and myself.
There were a few awkward moments, but we just talked our way through them.
After they were both done, as well as the column you can see in the background, I took my gloves off and basically "sanded" the unnatural bumps and any fingermarks with my fingers. The paste starts to set up pretty quickly which allows you to smooth it out easily. It's not like any product I have used before, it's very spongy and soft even when it's dry.
Here are some progression shots, as well as a close up of the column...
Apolo with the rough coat on, before I smoothed him out...
Athena after being smoothed..again a few awkward moments...it's all good...
They always seemed to be whispering secrets, not sure, but I think they are planning something...
They were still at it when I left the room.
After letting them dry overnight I took my vacuum hose to them and continued "sanding" the bumps a and any strange areas with my bare finger. There is a lot of dust with this, hence the vacuum.
After they were smooth and clean of dust I put a good coat of glaze on them, wiping it off mostly and working it in a little. Again, the past is pretty soft, so be careful, you will chip it and can wipe it off if you scrubbed hard.
Whwalllaaa! We then went outside for some better pictures...
Top of the pedestal...nice and crack-y :)
Alright, so there you have it.
It just occurred to me that you may wonder what these have to do with Many and Aaron.
Their reception is going to be vintage and classy like you wouldn't believe! Mandy is a great interior designer and we have had so much fun planning and putting together the decor. These busts will be part of the decor. She has a huge sofa-size, breathtaking picture of two images that look much the same as these busts that will be part of the decor also. They fit right in.
To make everything even better...
They cost her $5.00 each at the thrift store!
I will be sure to post pictures next week of the whole thing.
Now I have a wedding cake to make!
Wohoo!
:)
So beautiful! I can't believe you made them look so aged and perfect.
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