TO MAKE FUN, FAST AND FRESH ELEMENTS FOR YOUR HOME DECOR, GET STARTED WITH CHALK COUTURE! YOU CAN CREATE BEAUTIFUL CUSTOM PIECES FOR YOUR HOME IN MINUTES!
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love changing up my decor on a regular basis. And by regular basis, I mean weekly in some areas, monthly in others and seasonally for the rest! Of course, this can get a little crazy if I let it! So in my quest to turn our cookie-cutter condo into a handmade home, I started digging around online. And that is how I decided to get started with Chalk Couture.
There are so many incredible ways to add handmade touches to a home, through crafts, art and more. However, we live in a pretty small home. And I don’t have a lot of storage space! So I wanted something I could create, but if I could reuse the materials time and again, so much the better!
I stumbled on Chalk Couture through another blogger that I follow and greatly admire – Gina over at The Shabby Creek Cottage. Her amazing farmhouse style and her love of all things turquoise really appealed to me and I found myself watching her videos with this amazing product she was using. I was hooked!
WHAT IS IT?
Chalk Couture, in their words, is “Easy, High-End DIY Home Decor”. Sounds pretty good, right? Ummm, yes!
The magic of Chalk Couture lies in its simplicity. Using their reusable transfers and washable chalk paste, I’m able to create unique and beautiful pieces to display through my home or give as gifts! And the best part? It can be as easy or as complex as you like. Some of the transfers are far more intricate than others but by using your own combination of colours and surfaces, you can create a myriad of different looks. This product is flexible enough to suit any decorating style!
Chalk Couture is a direct-selling company, which means that if you want to use the product, you’ll purchase through an independent distributor. In Chalk Couture, these people are referred to as Independent Designers. I joined the company because I absolutely love the product and felt it would be an amazing fit for me on my journey to a more handmade home!
This is the link to visit my Chalk Couture website, where you can take a look at all the wonderful designs: Chalk Couture – Our Little Handmade Home
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH CHALK COUTURE
In order to get started with Chalk Couture, you’ll need some supplies. If you’re interested in testing the waters, so to speak, starting out with a Kit might be a good idea! Chalk Couture has created these awesome little bundles for people who want to try the product, but don’t know where to start. You can look at the different kit options here:
Of course, you dive in as deep as you like right from the start! I chose to become an Independent Designer from the beginning because I wanted ALL the things and I wanted a discount! Makes sense, right?
Once you’ve chosen your favourite kit, or 10, and waited for your amazing package to be delivered to your door, it’s time to design!
This system is actually very easy, but I am not going to say it’s foolproof. There is a learning curve, which I do find I am still on some days!
The steps to create a project using Chalk Couture are fairly simple. For each design, you will:
- Prepare your surface
- Prepare your transfer
- Choose your chalk paste
- Chalk your design
- Clean your transfer
- Dry the finished project
- Display your masterpiece
Sounds simple enough, yes? Let’s look at these steps in a little more detail.
Watch the video here:
Prepare Your Surface
So what does this mean? Well, if you are using a Chalk Couture reusable surface, there’s not much for you to do. Make sure your surface is clean, free of any lint or adhesive and you’re good to go. My very first project was done on this Couture Boutique Board & Base, which is a highly versatile, reusable surface.
For your first projects, you may want to choose a surface like this chalkboard bistro sign. It’s easy to clean if you make a mistake!
If you are using a wood surface, you’ll want to apply a light coat of surface wax, which helps prevent any colour bleed. You might even want to paint your wood surface before chalking, which is awesome! Just do any prep work you like and make sure your surface is dry and clean before using your transfer!
You can even use the chalk paste on paper! Just use the surface wax to prepare the paper. You could make cards, gift tags or fun display pieces using small bits of paper. So cute!
Prepare Your Transfer
When using the Chalk Couture transfers on hard surfaces, such as wood, glass, ceramic or chalkboard, you need to “fuzz” your transfer. This allows you to easily remove your transfer from the surface once you’ve applied your chalk paste.
Using a fuzzing cloth, you lessen the effect of the adhesive. When working on these hard surfaces, this is exactly what you want! When working with ink and fabrics, you want more adhesive, but we will talk about that in another post!
The terry side of the fuzzing cloth helps prepare your transfer for your surface.
Remove your transfer from its backing sheet and lay it on the fuzzing cloth, with the rougher side facing up. The Chalk Couture fuzzing cloths are double-sided, so you can fuzz your transfers with one side and wipe your surfaces with the other! How handy is that?
With some transfers, you may have to “fuzz it” 2 or 3 times before it’s ready. You want it to stay put, but not adhere to the point of difficulty in removing it.
Once you have fuzzed your transfer sufficiently, place it on your surface and smooth it out. Make sure there are no wrinkles or creases, as this will cause your paste to pool.
Choose Your Chalk Paste
At the time of writing this post, Chalk Couture had 41 paste colour options. Let me tell you, it’s hard to just pick a few! If you’ve ordered a kit as I talked about above, Chalk Couture has taken the guesswork out and provided the colours that best fit the project!
There are classic colours, of course. There are shimmer pastes, which are gorgeous. And there are seasonal options as well. Trust me, they pile up quickly!
Decide how you want your design to look and pick your colours accordingly. I’m a big fan of black and white with small pops of colour, so I use many black or white surfaces, black or white paste and small details in a colour I’m really loving in the moment.
Chalk Your Design
This is the step where the magic happens! Seeing your design come to life with your chosen colours is so fun!
You can create your designs using all one colour, which is what I did for my first few designs. Using this method, I didn’t have to worry about getting paste in spots that I didn’t want that colour!
My best advice when chalking your first design – don’t stress about it! Start with a small amount of paste on your squeegee. You can always add more to get the coverage you want. If you find you put too much on, no problem! Scrape away the excess and put it back in the jar.
Once you’ve finished with your paste, you’re ready to remove your transfer and reveal your design! Peel up one edge of the transfer and pull straight up from the surface. Don’t pull from one corner in a diagonal fashion – this can ruin your transfer and we don’t want that!
Start out with a small amount of paste at a time and make sure you cover the full design. Scrape any excess paste back into your jar!
Clean Your Transfer
In order to reuse your transfers multiple times, you’ll need to care for them! Cleaning the transfers after each use is super important!
I use a combination of water and cleaning wipes to clean my transfers. Using a spray bottle filled with distilled water, I wet my transfer well. I use a squeegee to pull the water off the transfer and wipe it up with a paper towel. Then I use a cleaning wipe, such as Lysol or Clorox, to wipe the transfer clean on both sides.
You might see some colour residue when cleaning your transfer, and that’s okay! It won’t impact your ability to reuse the transfer unless you’ve left bits of paste in the design area.
Be sure to wipe down both sides of your transfer, as well as the surface you are working on. I do all my chalking on this self-healing work mat, and it cleans up like a charm!
Make sure you also clean your squeegees, so that you don’t have colour contamination on your next project!
A quick note about using wipes to clean your transfers – do not use baby wipes on the transfers. They contain oils that, while good for a baby’s skin, is damaging to the transfer. Stick with cleaning wipes!
Once your transfer is clean and dry, replace the backing sheet on it and store it away for next time. A helpful tip – leave your transfer face down and place the backing straight onto it that way! It’s so much easier than trying to lay the flexible transfer in place. Trust me!
Dry Your Finished Product
Often, by the time I’ve finished cleaning up, my design is pretty much dry. This means I can move on to the next step right away!
If you are doing a design that uses multiple colours or layers, however, drying each step can mean the difference between success and starting over!
I use this quick-dry tool, but you could use a small blowdryer. Applying heat to the paste will help it dry faster.
Applying heat will help your design set faster!
Be sure that when working on a layered project, each layer is completely dry before applying the next. It takes a little more time, but it will save you much heartache in the end!
Display Your Finished Chalk Couture Project
As much fun as I have making my projects, this is definitely my favourite step! Choose where to proudly display your newly-created work of art, if you didn’t already have a spot in mind! I’ve got pieces in my dining room, kitchen, entry way and hallway, with many more to come!
So who’s ready to get started with Chalk Couture and creating your own handmade home decor pieces?! If you are looking for some inspiration, be sure to check out my Quick and Easy Spring Decor to Make for Your Home. It’s one of my favourite Chalk Couture projects!
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