MMSMP kids’ dining table redo and halloween DIY

i don’t get out much. so when i walked into Pottery Barn Kids last week and saw adorable Christmas chair backers, i thought, “i should make these for Halloween!”

figuring i don’t have enough time to make Christmas chair backers, i bought them at $20 a piece and said “Self, you can make these for Halloween and save your husband a few bucks!”

like i said, i don’t get out much. and i didn’t realize that i could’ve just bought them from Pottery Barn. look at how cute the Pottery Barn ones are.

but given that it was early October, it was too late to be buying halloween decorations at Pottery Barn. they’d already moved onto Christmas! (cynicism noted…)

so i set out to make these. and while i was at it, i repainted the kids’ dining table. i’d originally painted it in Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint’s lovely Kitchen Scale greenish-blue color. but the wax didn’t hold up too well with all the use and abuse during meal time. the paint had really started scraping off, and i was nervous about the kids getting it in their food.

this was the table when i first painted it. it had a flatter look to it, so i decided to spice things up a bit this next go-around.

so i lightly sanded it, repainted it with two more coats of MMSMP Kitchen Scale, and watched it crackle. awesome! i love crackle!

the milk paint crackles if the surface you’re painting has any varnish or wax. even as Marian from Miss Mustard Seed says, you never know what you’re going to get, but in most instances, you get nice results. however, to get a great chuckle, check out this undesired result at Jeanne Oliver’s blog! hilarious!

i dry brushed with some Annie Sloan Coco. Then with a stiff brush (you know, one that you let paint dry on before you had a chance to wash it?), brushed some Old English Dark Wax and rubbed it all in to get some depth and layers.

now there’s a richness to it and makes me happy. the kids haven’t a clue. i waxed it twice with Annie Sloan clear wax as i find that it’s more durable than the MMSMP wax, especially since we’re wiping this table down a few times a day!