French Kisses

One of the things I love about the Annie Sloan range of Chalk Paint™ is the reference to France, and the French, in their names. Provence, Antibes, Versailles, all conjure up warm sunny climes in foreign lands. Louis, and Napoleonic Blue, Antoinette, and Chateau Grey, speak volumes of the country’s history, whilst Burgundy and Olive remind of fabulous French feasts enjoyed in a vineyard on a summer’s evening.
Inspired by a country style coat hook distressed by using a crackle-paint finish I chose Antoinette, the palest of feminine pinks, to distress this Ikea vanity mirror. 
In this instance it was extremely easy to remove the glass which saved having to protect it during the painting process. As I only had a small pot of paint I decided to use a different ageing method to the one shown in the book as the crackle finish required a second coat of paint, which needed to be put on very thickly, and then dried to a crackle using a hot hairdryer.

Instead I chose to paint the whole frame with two coats of Antoinette and then scraped off some of the paint whilst still wet and rubbed with sandpaper when dry. Once this stage was complete I applied a thin layer of clear wax to protect the paint colour before applying a layer of dark wax. 
I wiped off the excess dark wax leaving it to highlight the imperfections in the paintwork. I then returned the glass to the frame and quickly applied one layer of clear wax and a light layer of dark wax to the back of the mirror so that it blended in with the overall look and feel.
Voila! The end result is a really pretty vanity mirror which would add character and charm to any bedroom or bathroom.