This Tuesday, I thought I’d talk about the Chalk Paste Jar. Our little buddy that holds onto our paste for us. Sometimes, he gets a little cranky. He might get a little crusty and then he won’t protect our paste properly anymore. So I have a few tips for you to keep your paste jars happy and functioning to their best ability. And that means you won’t end up with a really colorful hockey puck in your jar.
Prep for your project.
It’s Mis En Place time. If you’ve ever watched Food Network, you’ve heard it – Mis En Place – French loosely translated to everything in it’s place. This is the time to check your paste before you start your project. Gather all the paste colors you’re using and check each one to see what condition it’s in. Grab your Chalk Couture stir stick and get to mixing. It should be the consistency of yogurt. If you can’t seem to get it there, get your Chalk Couture fine mist sprayer and give it a pump or two of distilled water (yes it must be distilled – more on that later ) and mix some more. Repeat til you have the right consistency. Then you’re ready to chalk.
Keep it clean.
Seems obvious, right? I know in the rush and excitement of getting projects done, we all forget general maintenance of our craft items. But keeping the paste jar rims free of crusty gunky dried paste is important. Why? Because for some reason, science I guess, if there’s a bunch of dried junk near the actual paste it will speed up the possibility of it drying it up. Also, it might break loose and fall into the paste and make a chunky disaster of your paste jar, and that will make baby Jesus cry. The best way to clean jars is to get a stir stick or multi-tool, remove any excess paste you’ve scraped off a squeegee and push it back into the jar if it’s still useable. Then, just take a rag and gently run it around the rim to clean it so you won’t need a jack hammer to get the lid off later.
YIcky dirty paste jar. Excess stuff hanging off the sides. Dry stuff falling into the paste. Just Eww. 
Nice happy paste jar. No chunks. No excess paste hanging. Consistency of yogurt is there.
Keep it hydrated.
Yes, even paste jars need good ol’ H2O. You must use distilled water. Our pastes are sensitive to foreign chemicals so if you use tap water you run the risk of the paste getting weird or even moldy. And that will really make baby Jesus cry. (And maybe even puke a little) All you have to do is give it a spritz or two of distilled water from a fine mist sprayer before you close it. It’s the perfect amount of water to just lay on top of the paste and keep it from hardening.
Have the right tool for the job.
It is important to use the Chalk Couture accessories with the paste. These tools are made just for this purpose. As I said, the paste is sensitive, so if you go sticking a popsicle stick or tooth pick in your paste, there’s no telling what kind of hairy monster you may create, plus, wood sucks the moisture right out of the paste. It’s best to use the Chalk Couture squeegees, stir sticks and multi tool when using the Chalkology paste.
So be a friend of your chalk paste. Keep those jars nice and healthy and you’ll have them for a while.
