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2.03.2010

Snap, Crackle, and Flop

My crackle experience has been one of mixed emotions.

I am really pleased with the entertainment center. (its hinges are currently drying from the ZipStrip and the quick black spray paint they got) So, it is not camera ready quite yet.....

The bulletin board is painted, but not recovered yet....

and the table...

flop

I wasn't overly pleased with the table from the start... then I messed it up more.

It went from black to white to crackle. The crackle job looked really good...

 

in places.

But, in other spots, it crackled a bit too much...



It's  my fault. I saw someone post online that when they did it, they made sure to have a good, heavy load of paint on the brush. You can't really go over it twice. It is like the crackle sucks all the moisture out if the paint immediately. It is actually a pretty neat process to watch. Better than normally just wanting paint dry. (hehe) I took this advice to heart and loaded 'er up! Gravity was working against me though. Luckily, I did this piece first, so I knew better for the entertainment center. But, I didn't learn my lesson until I saw the teal paint dripping onto the carpet... oops...

I had plans to salvage this crackle job anyway. I was going to just paint over it all with a Cowboy Tan. (what we have left over from the living room and what I am going to use in places up here). I thought it would look cool one color with the crackle texture underneath. That was until I put a spray bottle of cleaner on it overnight this weekend... oops... it somehow left a ring of doom that will not go away. It also bubbled the paint. 


And then, I made it worse by trying to get the ring to be less noticeable.


So, now I have a crackled, bubbled, ringed, peeled coffee table. It is on hold until we can figure out a solution. My suggestion was to just strip it all and start over by just painting it. We'll see...


I am not a crackle hater. I actually really like it. This piece has just had problems. I was a bit unhappy with it before the ring, bubbles, and disaster struck. I'm not really happy with the color choice. I feel that I need to have my leg-warmered ankles propped up on it as I crimp my hair and smack my bubble gum. It screamed 80s as soon as the paint dried. :)

I will post crackle successes soon. This table is just becoming a nemesis :).

12 comments:

  1. Shannon, This is what I have done. Let it dry. Sand the table, wipe off the dust, crackle again. If you can lay the table flat do so. If you want small cracks use a sea sponge. Load it with paint dob down and up move do again. Do not drag. Good luck.
    smiles, alice

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  2. I have used the crackle spay paint on small things like frames... but never anything large like this! I hope you can fix it!

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  3. Oh dear. I agree with Alice who said to sand it down, and try again. I have used spray crackle with good results, on things as large as bookcases, but never on a table.
    good luck!
    Cass

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  4. Oh, Shannon, dont pull those leg warmers out just yet. I would sand over and try again fresh. It will turn out. OR sand and paint with a color underneath that you will like th ecombo with. It'll work. I cannot wait to see how it comes out. Dont give up! Thanks for sharing today. Thank you also for linking up to Thrifty Thursday!
    ~Hugs~
    Leigh
    Tales from Bloggeritaville
    www.lbratina.blogspot.com

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  5. i love these types of posts, because hey, sometimes things just don't work out like we want/plan, and it's good to be honest about it. :) i agree that you can still salvage the table, and i would personally strip the paint/crackle and once that's done, sand it and paint one solid color, maybe distress the edges so it isn't a 100% refined look? sounds like you want it to appear a little worn.
    don't give up! i hope to check back in later and see wonderful transformations to this table :)

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  6. Thanks, ladies :)
    For now, it is sitting where it belongs. I think I'm pretending that it didn't flop for the time being :)
    No fears though! I have not given up. I'm too much of a stickler for a free piece of furniture and stubborn enough to like the challenge!

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  7. you know what?
    big deal it didn't work out... aren't we all just making our furniture fit our lives for now anyway?
    Who knows in 5 years you were gonna probably strip it and do something different... but, I can appreciate a project going south really fast, so, i can appreciate you sharing it anyway.

    thanks.

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  8. I'm sorry it gave you so many problems. If it makes you feel any better, it happens to all of us!

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  9. You need to be using the Aqua crackle products. Faux Effects in my opinion has the best crackle available. I roll on size and roll on paint...I never brush because it ends up looking weathered. I'm sorry it didn't turn out like you wanted... I've had my share of faux flops and they are disappointing!

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  10. Oh, I feel your pain. I did a post a while ago entitled. "Friends don't let friends do crackle." I'm actually not a crackle hater, but it's hard to do really well. One of the keys is to do it in a low contrast. Black on white is such a high contrast, it doesn't look as good as a white over cream, then distressed and antiqued to emphasize the crackle texture. Anyway, good luck to you! Once a piece is crackle, you either need to strip it or sand it and live with the imperfections that will show through the topcoat. Good luck!

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  11. :) poor shannon! I'm thinking where you went wrong may have been that it looks like you used a gloss undercoating... perhaps the crackle just couldn't "stick" to it? Just thinking...
    glad you're not giving up.
    gail

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