How to Use a Folk Art Paint Conversion Chart Without Ruining Your Project
A Folk Art Paint Conversion Chart is a reference tool that maps the colors available from Folk Art (by Plaid) to equivalent shades in other craft paint brands like Apple Barrel, DecoArt, and sometimes Americana Decor. It exists because every brand formulates its pigments differently, and the shade labeled "Sunset Orange" from one company will rarely match the same label from another. I used to rely on these charts blindly and learned the hard way that they are approximations, not guarantees. The chart gets you in the neighborhood. You still have to verify.
What the Folk Art Paint Conversion Chart Actually Does
The chart lists a Folk Art color code or name alongside the closest matching product from competing brands. Most charts online cover around 60 to 120 of the most popular Folk Art shades. Folk Art's base line includes over 400 colors, but no conversion chart covers all of them because the obscure ones rarely have close equivalents elsewhere. Here is what you will typically find in a standard chart: Folk Art color number, the common name for that shade, the Apple Barrel equivalent, and sometimes a DecoArt or Model Master cross-reference. Some charts also include general-purpose craft store lines like Martha Stewart Craft or Tulip.
Where to Find and Download One
Most of these charts circulate as free PDFs on crafter blogs and Pinterest boards. The most reliable ones I have seen come from long-running crafting sites like Craft Supply Store and various Plaid-affiliated forums. Search for Folk Art Paint Conversion Chart PDF and look for documents that show the source or date of creation. Older charts may reference discontinued color names that Plaid has since renamed or retired. I keep a saved copy from the Craft Supply Store that dates back to around 2018. It is not exhaustive, but it has held up reasonably well for most of my projects. If you are doing something production-level, you will want to cross-reference at least two separate charts before committing to a substitution.
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How to Actually Use the Chart in Practice
Start by identifying the Folk Art color you need. Note the four-digit number on the bottle. Then look up that number in the chart. You will see one or two alternatives listed. Here is where most people stop reading and just grab the substitute. That is where problems start. Before you buy anything, you need to understand the finish difference. Folk Art acrylics are generally a satin finish. Apple Barrel is flat. DecoArt is a medium gloss. Even if the hue matches perfectly, the sheen difference shows up dramatically on dark wood or primed canvas, especially under direct light. I painted a whole set of coasters using an Apple Barrel substitution for a Folk Art dark blue once and the finish looked chalky and uneven compared to the Folk Art sample I had made earlier. I ended up sealing everything with a satin varnish just to make them look consistent. That added about 45 minutes of drying and sealing time to the project. Always test the substitution on a scrap piece first. Let it dry completely before judging the color. Wet acrylic looks darker and more saturated than it does when dry, and this effect compounds when you switch brands.
Common Pitfalls That Break These Charts
The biggest issue is that paint formulations change. Plaid has reformulated Folk Art colors at least twice since the early 2010s. A conversion chart from 2014 might reference a Folk Art shade that no longer exists in the same form. The color numbers stay the same but the pigment load shifts. I found this out when a chart told me to swap Folk Art #41045 for Apple Barrel Warm Brown, and the Apple Barrel I picked up was noticeably cooler and grayer than the old version I remembered from years ago. Another issue is that many charts only match the main hue and ignore undertones. Folk Art tends toward warmer undertones in its reds and oranges. DecoArt leans cooler in those same ranges. If you are matching skin tones or landscape greens, that undertone shift will be obvious even to someone who does not know much about color theory. I once tried to replicate a specific peach tone for a dollhouse kitchen wall using a DecoArt substitute from a chart. The peach came out slightly pink instead. I mixed in a tiny amount of yellow ochre to warm it back up and got closer, but it took three test patches and about twenty minutes to dial it in.
When a Conversion Chart Is Not Enough
If your project demands color accuracy across brands, you should not trust the chart alone. The chart works fine for casual craft projects where the paint is going on a wooden sign or a painted rock. But for anything that needs to match an existing piece, or for commercial work where a client picks a specific color, you need to go further. The most practical approach is to buy small sample sizes if available, or mix your own match using a universal tinting system. Some craft stores offer custom mixing at the register. I have done this at Michaels and Hobby Lobby and it usually takes about five minutes and costs around two dollars for the service. The result is more reliable than any printed chart.
A Few Specific Substitutions That Are Worth Knowing
Some conversions hold up better than others. Folk Art #41017 Vintage Rose roughly matches Apple Barrel #20575 Dusty Rose, though the Apple Barrel is slightly lighter and less saturated. Folk Art #41038 Dark Chocolate is close to Apple Barrel #20583 Chocolate, but the Folk Art version is deeper and has more blue in it. If you need that exact darkness, you may need to layer two coats of the Apple Barrel or mix in a touch of black. Folk Art #41023 Goldenrod lines up decently with Apple Barrel #20569 Marigold, but Goldenrod is yellower and less orange. The chart comparison will look right on paper and wrong on the painted surface. I keep a small color wheel and my own hand-mixed reference swatches alongside any chart I use. The swatches beat the chart every time for tricky yellows and oranges.
What the Chart Cannot Tell You
Conversion charts do not account for opacity, coverage, or drying time. Folk Art is known for good opacity in fewer coats compared to many competitors. A chart might tell you that Apple Barrel Sunset is the same as Folk Art #41045, but Folk Art will likely cover in one coat where the Apple Barrel needs two. That changes your project timeline and material cost in a way the chart never mentions. They also do not address lightfastness. Some of the brighter Folk Art colors, particularly the neon-adjacent ones, fade faster than their equivalents in professional-grade lines. If you are painting something that will see sunlight, check the lightfastness ratings separately. The conversion chart is silent on this entirely. Use the chart as a starting point, not a final answer. Test everything. Keep your own notes on what actually works. The hobby has enough shortcuts that pretend to save time but end up costing more in rework and wasted paint.
