~as promised, my simple beachy party post~

Hello friends,

Well here we are with fall nipping at our heels and I still want to show you a couple photos from that little beachy party we had in the summer, as promised!

 As we are having the most gorgeous dry and sunny fall up north I am going to go right ahead, and perhaps my southern hemisphere friends will appreciate it too as you head into summer!

So here goes, kept it super simple and mostly used what I had on hand:  wicker vases, white pitchers, mason jars, white sand and tealights.

Oh, and a bunch of baby's breath, one of my favourite flowers to decorate with, a bunch goes a long way.

Simple, that is, except for these jolly tissue pom-poms. Word of advice : don’t leave them until the night before. Like I did. I don’t generally consider myself a craft-challenged gal but these pom-poms got the better of me! Especially the big ones, which ended up piled in the corner of my farmhouse table and no one was any the wiser that they had big holes underneath!

Here’s a close up, aren’t the ruffley layers pretty!

Another word of advice : you can order them online and just fluff them out!

I also hung some up high from the gazebo outside with a couple paper lanterns, with a bit of fluffing they are quite forgiving:-)

The smaller ones turned out much better and I tossed a couple on the tables here and there.

So I used a white cotton tablecloth with a wide burlap runner down the middle, and an assortment of candles, starfish, blue mason jars, and accents. 

~Simple~

I laid a similar table outside with a few different accessories, and strung up twinkling fairy lights. So sorry I didn't get any photos of the other table!

Scattered starfish along the tables.

The white shells looked so pretty piled in a blue mason jar.

I am so in love with vintage paper straws, they not only look cute they are sturdy and so versatile in decorating and they photograph so well.

I ordered them in a couple different colours, but just used the blue ones here.

So there you have it! It was simple to put together but looked so fresh and beachy! 

As beachy coastal was loosely the theme I went with this summer in my living room it was fun to extend that through the house for the party! 

You can read more about my beachy coastal living room here and here.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into the party!

Tracey

~my other two cents on chalk paint and little provence nightstand~

i love furniture with shapely legs and that french provencale look

so i couldn't wait to get my paintbrush to this cutie-patootie

almost forgot the before photo

~almost, but not quite!~

gave it a dust and wipe down, then set to work

i did lightly sand a couple of spots on top where the paint was starting to peel off, for a smoother finish

and yes, you guessed correctly, Annie Sloan's "provence" chalk paint

so if you read my earlier post on chalk paint here, now you'll get my {long overdue} opinion after using it on multiple pieces

i debated lightening the paint up a little with some old white, but decided to use it as is

 i simply ~adore~ this color

the first coat went on kinda streaky, and i was thinking, okay, we're looking at 3-4 coats here

but once that first coat dried, and i applied the second coat, the coverage was perfect

~yes, i was impressed~

buffed it up with a coat of clear wax

and an old t-shirt

here i ran into a bit of trouble, i left it overnight before buffing and the finish was kinda streaky...

after LOTS of buffing it came right and i love how it turned out

here it is at market shortly before it went to it's new home

~sigh~

sometimes it's hard to let go

as many other bloggers have commented, perhaps the most appealing quality of this paint is the time it saves prior to painting

{you still have to do the sanding/waxing steps afterwards}

in my world i don't have hours and days to devote to projects and painting

sometimes i wish it did, but i just don't

so when i can grab an hour here and there and get right to the painting -without having to sand and prime first-

that's HUGE!!!

{apple green vintage storage box, gave it a wash of old white, heavily sanded and stencilled}

so here's my verdict on Annie Sloan's chalk paint:

PROS:

~ no sanding

~no priming

~saves lots of time and mess

~dries relatively quickly

~sands easily {messy!}

~looks fab waxed up

~easy clean up

CONS:

~pricey, especially if you don't have a local supplier and have to pay shipping

~most of the pieces i've worked on {chairs, benches) have needed a third coat for good coverage

pine bench before

and after

 painted with paris gray, washed with old white, sanded and stencilled

so will I continue to use it?

YES!!!

especially now it was recently released in pure white, and I haven't even played around with mixing colors yet...

before I go, take a peek at a couple more projects I recently painted with ASCP

"goldilock's chair"

before

and after in old white

yes, i get a little carried away when i fire up the mouse

stencilled "paris" and sanded it down to show wear and tear

rustic garden bench in paris gray, love how numbers transform just about anything!

kiddies chairs in provence

{did i mention i'm in love with this color?}

hope you enjoyed seeing some of my projects

Carrie at The Passionate Home is now carrying ASCP, yay!!

linking to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Take-a-Look Tuesday

Tracey