Craigslist + Chalk Paint

Several months ago we started scouring Craiglist for cheap furniture with the idea that I would slap some chalk paint on it and resell the item at a profit. However, chalk paint is pricey, to say the least, though there are recipes online -- basically, 1 part calcium carbonate to 2 parts latex paint mixed well -- so I intended to cut costs again by making my own. But finding the recommended food grade calcium carbonate also pricey, Peter suggested I look into fine field marking chalk, which is only about $6/50 lbs. Soon I had that in hand (enough to last a lifetime, if it worked), a nice old desk I found locally for only $20, and a quart each of grey blue and cream flat latex paint. Here is the desk before I started painting...and sanding and painting and sanding and waxing. After this project, I would not recommend trying to make chalk paint at home. What really is a some-what easy paint to use is NOT easy or fun if the chalk grit requires hours of elbow grease to sand smooth! Next time, I will probably buy Annie Sloan paint ($$$) or something from Lowes ($$). Also adding to the final cost were two sheets of decorative paper from Jerry's Artarama to line the three drawers (which were a bit rough and bland) and four drawer pulls from an amazing architectural salvage store in Portland, Maine. Peter loved the antique pulls we chose, so between that and the final cost (and labor) of redoing this piece, we're holding on to it for now, using it in a bedroom, and rethinking the idea of flipping old furniture from a small apt.