Amy Howard At Home Contributor, Heidi Marsh, is going to show you how to create the perfect piece for your seaside oasis. You'll be mixing color to create various shades of plaster - this is a fun one!

Step 1 - Clean

Clean with Clean Slate

Step 2 – Base Layer

Paint a base layer of your choice of white Amy Howard At Home One Step Paint. You could choose Ballet White, Pasha White, Winter Snow - or any white color you would like! If you’re painting on top of a dark wood, also apply a coat of white shellac based primer to seal it. The water in the plaster will pull out the tannins.

Step 3 – Prep

Mix up your plasters and get your tools. You will need:

• Paper towels
• Metal Joint Knife: offset 3in and a 5 or 6in.
• 4 plastic mixing containers
• A natural bristle chip brush
• Metal mixing spoons
• Gloves (optional)
• Immersion blender (optional)
• Fine mist spray bottle with water
• Tarp or drop cloth
• Amy Howard At Home Venetian Plaster
• A Makers Studio ChalkArt in your colors of choice. I used “Sew on and Sew Forth”, “Water To My Ocean” and “Cute As a Button”.
• Amy Howard At Home One Step Paint in Credenza
• Mind Your Own Beeswax

You’ll want to set up your workspace outside or use a drop cloth inside. It’s messy! Mix up some plaster without color by adding water until you get the consistency of sour cream. Because I have arthritis in my hands, I use an immersion blender for this part and it comes out super creamy.  For a piece this size, I made about 5 liters and divided it between 5 containers. Once you plaster is made up, add a container of ChalkArt of each one and blend. I mixed up each of the three chalk art colors and also made one with some of the “Credenza” One Step Paint. Add as little or much as you like to get your desired color. You can always add more plaster or water to get the desired consistency. After mixing, you should have four different shades of blue and one white. Once mixed, put the lid on your airtight container so it doesn’t start to dry.

Step 4 – Apply Plaster

First, choose an area to work on. Don’t try to do the entire piece all at once. Practice first on a scrap piece of wood if you want to practice. Apply a coat of white plaster with the chip brush. Allow it to sit a few minutes to set up, but don’t let it dry all the way. Then apply the colored plaster in sections with a chip brush or craft stick, moving from lightest to darkest at the bottom. You don’t need to get 100% coverage… just use the brush to place the plaster with the brush. You’ll move it around with the joint knife in the next step.

Step 5 – Create

This is the fun part! Use your knives to move and spread the plaster around. Doing so will blend it together. Pull the knife down from the top, up from the bottom and from side to side. Just don’t start pulling mid-section otherwise you’ll get a line from the knife. Play with it. Add water and move/blend the plaster around until you get the look you want. Wait a few minutes for it to set up and then pull again to get a more jagged and rough look. The key here is to practice and keep trying until you like it. Every once in awhile, take a step back and look at the piece as a whole so you don’t get any weird blobs of color. To get some of the darkest colors as seen in the picture, I took some of the “Sew On and Sew Forth” ChalkArt and applied it with my finger. I added a little water and used my knife to blend it more. Once done, let dry and move to the next section. Once done with the entire piece, lightly sand it with 400 grit sandpaper.

Step 6 -Wax

Use clear wax or Mind Your Own Beeswax to seal the whole piece. Plaster doesn’t necessarily need sealing, but it makes the color richer and make the plaster soft to the touch. Let dry 30 minutes and buff if desired.

Final Step - Enjoy The Bragging Rights!