Paint questions

[erratica.livejournal.com]

I have a plastic box (it had held those wet face wipe things) that I painted with acrylic paint last night. It looks good now, but it chips easily. This weekend I'm going to pick up sealer and I can't find any good info online about what kind I should get. I want something that can be painted because it's too cold for me to go out and use a spray. Just something to protect it from chipping. Any suggestions? I also want to use it on Altoid tins.

Also, the brushes I have -- Loew Cornell natural camel hair--shed terribly while painting. I have all these brush hairs that I'm going to have to pull out of the paint and then paint over. I figure I'll just use a sponge brush to do this. Is this shedding normal, a sign of cheap brushes, is there something I can do to avoid this?

I wish I could find a good site with information but they never go too in depth :/