It has been tooooo long.

I can't believe that I have not posted on here in a month.  Lots going on lately to include changing jobs and trying to get things set up in my craft room.  I do have couple of pictures to share of the bookshelf that I painted.....it turned out quite well.  Also, my husband surprised me and let me get cabinets and a counter top for my craft room so I am very excited to get that put in.  I spent the better part of last weekend painting the cabinets - they are oak and were unfinished and they sure sucked up a lot of white paint.  I was going to be bold and go with a color but since I painted the shelf "flamingo pink" and I plan to paint two other pieces of furniture in there some color between a teal and a green, I thought it was best to go simple on the cabinets.  Plus, since I like changing things often, I am sure that I will use a lot of different colors in the room all the time.  I have been saving cans and jars and boxes ..... not sure what I will do with all of this but something will come along that I want to make.  Now I have the room to store things and work on pieces without the necessity to finish them right away because they are sitting out in the open. 
So, about the shelf.  I bought this at a yard sale last summer as well as the table that is in this room that I plan to set up my sewing machine on ..... until I can get a new one which I desperately want.  The shelf was stained a very ugly color, reddish-brown, yuck.  I found a recipe for homemade chalk paint and it worked very well. 

Homemade Chalk Paint

2 parts flat latex paint, any color

1 part Plaster of Paris aka POP

Enough warm water to stir the POP in and get the paint smooth. 

It will appear a little thick as you go along but keep stirring it as you are painting.  I used a medium pink, Valspar Paint from Lowe's literally called "Flamingo Pink".  It lightened up a little when I mixed in the POP.  It goes on very smooth.  I painted one coat and then lightly sanded the piece before I added a second coat.  Then I sanded small areas well so that the wood shows through and I nicked it up a few places to age it some.  I finished by going over the entire shelf with a coat of clear Paste Wax.  It turned out great!  

  BEFORE

AFTER

I can tell already that I need a better camera.  My pictures on here look horrible.  But anyway, I will show you the rest of room very soon.