Oh my. I haven’t posted in a few days and here’s why.

1. My Back Is Broke:  I left the Army exactly 1 year ago and I’ve worked out maybe 12 times since my departure. Not good. Then gaining a good 15 pounds and losing a lot of muscle because of said workout retirement is…you guessed it, not good. It’s not just my insane laziness that caused these turn of events but also the reality of joining the Army at 30 and then working out 5 days a week for four years under extreme conditions. Yea, I bet you aren’t pushing SUVs or running 10 miles to the White House for fun. When I left I was suffering from a bad knee and chronic costochrondritis in my chest. Chronic costochrondritis is seriously painful. I laugh it hurts my chest. I turn my head to check over my shoulder to change lanes on the highway it hurts. Running hurts. Elliptical hurts. Lying down, breathing, standing, and reaching hurts.

I tell you this because I can’t find a good exercise routine that would “work” with my condition. I’m turning to you. Anyone have suggestions?

Without a good workout routine my bad back condition creeps up. And painting and other DIY activities becomes almost impossible.

Can you see what a viscious cycle this is?!?

2. I Try & Fail:  I’ve been trying several projects that are amazing in my head but when I put paint to furniture everything changes! I guess I wanted to be that blogger that didn’t bogg down your inbox with blog posts that are useless and yet here I am pleading my case. Asking you to hang in there with me until I can come up with some genius DIY project that will be Pinned like a million times.

Until then I guess I can show you a chair that I found at Goodwill for $4.88 and the Chalk Paint That Couldn’t.

Aside from the nasty/disgusting/gross seat on this chair I loved the rattan back and the curvy legs.

I did my Pin research and found many success stories reference Plaster of Paris as the main ingredient in their DIY chalk paint. I followed this receipe:

1 part Plaster of Paris

3 parts paint

Plus water (mixing 1 tbsp of water at a time until the plaster was smooth)

It was smooth for a minute. Then the dreaded clumping began and no matter how much water added and stirring I did, my chalk paint was just watered down paint and the “chalk” was just clumped at the bottom. Here the paint just looks watered down.

You can see the gritty chunks that I couldn’t get rid of.

To tell you the truth, I’m not even sure what chalk paint is suppose to look like when it goes on the furniture but I bet it ain’t this.

Question: What should I do about my workout routine? Anyone gonna school me on how to make my own chalk paint that works?

 

About The Author

8 Responses

  1. Dina

    Hello Christine,
    I am very sorry to hear about your condition. Constant Pain = NO FUN. But I want you to call Pam Seefeld @ Botanical Resources, 727-442-4955. You can read a little about her on her website, http://botanicalresource.com/f_pam.html She does complementary counseling between 11:00 – 1:00, and you will need to make an appointment, she is very busy and sometimes she doesn’t get the message so be persistent. She is homeopathic & holistic and understands the stress our bodies are under everyday, you will understand when you talk to her. I believe she can help you, I have referred “many” people to her and I wish someone had referred her to me when my husband was ill, but sadly I found her after. Feel Better!

    Reply
  2. Caitlin

    i have heard that using unsanded grout works better than plaster of paris in chalk paint

    Reply
  3. Gina

    I have just been dealing with the same problem! I used ‘recipe’: 2 cups paint, 5 Tbsp PoP, 3 Tbsp water. Epic fail! Tried 3 times. Exact results as yours. Haven’t figured out the problem yet for sure, but I suspect it’s the paint. I asked for satin latex (paint finish was not specified in any recipe I studied) and after 3rd fail I looked closely at paint can label and realized it said ‘paint and primer’. I strongly suspect the ‘primer’ part is to blame. I hope. Meanwhile, I have a ‘new’ dining table that I guess I’ll just learn to live with. BTW, using the original recipe, each time it clumped into a big crumbly mass. Adding water smoothed it out but it still had a grainy texture and as soon it hit the paint brush it became ‘formed’ again. I’m telling you, it was a fiasco!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Dina Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.