table

Crazy for Corduroy: Girls Flower Power Decoupage Side Table

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It has been a very hectic week in the “On The Upcycle” household.  I have been working late into the night to prepare for my first flea market this Saturday.  I am happy to report, that my crafting area is looking more like a usable work space, and less like a storage closet!  My hope is clearing out some older items will make way for new projects.

I have also been working on a few projects specifically to use in the sale.  I picked up this nice, wooden side table at Goodwill for a couple of dollars.

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The original idea, was to use a black and white scarf I had for the decoupage and then paint the table with neutral colors.  It is amazing how quickly a plan can change!  I used a white, spray on primer to prepare the table.  I applied the scarf and instantly was not all that impressed with the result.  Scarves can be tricky because the fabric is very thin, and once it is glued to the table top, it has a tendency to show any imperfections on the wood underneath.  That is exactly what happened in this case.  Once the Mod Podge was dry, I removed the fabric and decided to start over.  Then it hit me:  I had this great flower power corduroy fabric from an old dress that looked very cute on my daughter but no longer fit her.  I saved it in the hopes that I would find a use for it someday.  That time was now!

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I cut the fabric and measured out a large enough piece to cover the top of the table.  I applied a generous amount of Mod Podge to the table surface.  The general rule is the thicker the material the more Mod Podge you will need to use to achieve the desired effect.

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Once the glue was dry, I hand painted the table with pink, purple and white acrylic paint.  This was turning out to be a much different table then I had originally anticipated.  After a few more coats of paint,  I added generous amounts of Mod Podge to the table top to seal the fabric.  I repeated this process three times allowing it to dry between coats. I also applied Mod Podge to the painted surfaces, to seal the entire piece.

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Once dry, I trimmed off the excess fabric on the edges and applied more Mod Podge to seal those edges.

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This is a side table with a lot of flower power and 1960’s appeal.  I am hoping this table makes some little girl very happy!  It will be just one of the items for sale this weekend.  I also loved working with corduroy!  Because of the thickness of the fabric, I was unsure as to how it would turn out and was more than pleased with the end result!

Before:

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After:

Materials Used:

Old kids Garment

Mod Podge

Spray or brush on white primer

Acrylic Paint

Paint Brushes (Various sizes)

Scissors and Box Cutter knife (to trim edges)

Sports Fan Inspired Upcycled Laundry Room Folding Table

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My husband and I have been working on each room in the house, cleaning reorganizing and coming up with new ideas for old items.  One of the areas that needed attention was our basement/laundry area. Our basement is damp and unfinished and keeping it clean is quite a challenge. It also serves as our laundry area.  We have a table in our basement we used in our kitchen for many years. We now use the table for folding and basement storage.  When we moved into our home six years ago, our kitchen was too small for such a large table so it was delegated to the basement.

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I am blessed to have a husband that helps with the household chores, especially the chores I hate!  One of these chores is doing laundry and he graciously does the family laundry every Sunday evening.  He is also a huge Phillies fan through good times and bad. While we were grocery shopping, we came across a Philadelphia Phillies plastic table-cloth in a bargain bin. It was priced right at $1.69.

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I thought it would be great to redo the grungy basement table into a Phillies fan table, and a great way to thank the hubby for all of the laundry he does!  My only concern was that the table cover was plastic.  As stated in previous posts, Mod Podge doesn’t always adhere well to certain plastics.  I thought this would be a great experiment as I had never used a plastic table-cloth for decoupage.  First, I cleaned and painted the table surface with a white latex primer.  This was important because the table cloth was white and the brown surface could potentially bleed through the white table-cloth.

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Once the paint was dry, I generously applied Mod Podge to the table surface with a large paintbrush.  I carefully layed the table cloth on top of the Mod Podge table surface.  This was the most challenging aspect of the project as the table cloth material is thin and prone to wrinkles and air bubbles.  The table cover also is spread across a larger surface area.  I smoothed out the table cover as best I could and applied Mod Podge over the top of the cover and allowed it to dry. I used scissors to carefully trim away the excess table cover hanging over the edges.

DSC_0915I used two coats of a polyurethane clear coat to seal the table surface, I allowed the first coat to dry for 4 hours and the second was left to dry over night.  I applied additional Mod Podge to the edges to prevent any minor curling.  This project was certainly not without its challenges, but despite these I think it turned out great.  The hubby may have lost his sports room to a playroom, but his laundry room is on its way to becoming a surrogate man cave!

Phillies sports Fan Table decoupage table cover

A Much Needed Kitchen Table Makeover: “On The Upcycle” Style.

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Our furniture sees it’s share of abuse in our home.  It would be easy to “blame it on the two-year old”, but the biggest offender in this household is me.   Before I began reorganizing what is now my crafting space, I had one place to craft on and that place was the kitchen table.  As much as I tried to be careful, with every new idea and craft came new damage to the table surface. I had to use a table cloth to cover the damage.

My husband and I originally purchased this set from Walmart before my daughter was born.   After years of living with some of the worst off the scrap heap kitchen tables.  The hubby and I decided we needed a more respectable table.  A table where a family could sit, eat and enjoy each other’s company, and not have to worry about the table collapsing while doing it!

We chose The Wood Casual Pedestal Dining Table in Black Finish sold by Walmart.  We liked the basic style and the table is very sturdy.  The table is about 3 years-old and the table itself is still in great shape.  I wish I could say the same for the table’s surface.  My fault totally!

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I had been putting off fixing it for quite sometime.  I was going to need a lot of Mod Podge and a clear sealer for this project!  This table would need protection against heavy use.

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Materials:

1 1/2 Yards of fabric (table measured 41×41)

High Gloss polyurethane sealer

Mod Podge

Scissors

Large Paint Brush

Small foam paint roller

First, I cleaned the table surface. I then covered the table surface generously with Mod Podge.

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I carefully, laid the fabric on the table surface allowing some fabric to drape over the sides.  You can use the Mod Podge roller tool, but now that I have been doing this for a bit, I actually prefer using my hands.

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I used my nail to feed the fabric into the table groove for a tight fit.  I applied a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the fabric, and on the sides. I allowed this to dry throughly.  I then used a pair of scissors, trimming off any additional fabric.

I applied additional Mod Podge to the edges shaping the fabric with my hands.  I applied three coats of High Gloss Polyurethane with a foam paint roller,  I waited about four hours between coats and the final coat was left to dry overnight,

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It matches Flea Market Bar Cabinet nicely and looks great in our yellow kitchen,  I was worried about the surface drying tacky, but it dried nicely.  If you want a smoother surface apply as many coats of the Polyurethane as needed until the desired effect is achieved. Since the table is shiny, I struggled to get a photo without any reflection in it!

Table Re Surface using fabric

Ruining the kitchen table never looked so good! No table cloth needed!

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When Crafts Go Wrong: Restyling the Upcycle

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On May 12th, I posted a Time Out chair I restyled.  Truth is I was never happy with how it turned out.  I think I know why it didn’t turn out as I planned.  I forced it. I was determined to finish the project even when I felt I should put it aside.  One thing I lack is patience and that can be a crafter’s undoing.  Sometimes it is just better to set a project that is frustrating aside to finish at a later date.The Time Out chair is an example of restyling a restyle.(You could say)

My upcycled 70’s inspired girls table has so far been Erin’s favorite.  It is the perfect size table, but lacked a chair.  We caught her pulling the table up to the step in an attempt to sit at the table. That is when I thought of the time out chair. We are very blessed so far.  We rarely have to put her in Time Out, so we haven’t really used the chair, and I thought if I restyled the chair, it would go great with the table.  I used the same 70’s fabric as the table, and re-painted the chair to match. Now Erin has the perfect place to sit and read her book, and I have a chair I can live with!

70's inspired KidsTable and Chair

1960’s Inspired Decoupage Coffee Table

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1960's Style Decoupage Coffee table

Impulsive.  That is the word I would used to describe this latest project.  This table was simply in the way.  I was storing it in my craft room and it was propped up against the wall taking up precious space.  I didn’t want to bring it up into the attic mainly because I didn’t want to have to drag it back down again.  After all, I had plans for this table what they were I wasn’t exactly sure.

I had purchased this great fabric at Goodwill, and to me it had a 1960’s style appeal. The material is made by Helen Trast Ikea of Sweden and appear originally to be drapes.  I was attracted to the bright colors.  There is nothing I love more than color.  I used this fabric for both the garden pig make over and step stool of my previous post.   I had an idea.  The coffee table was still in pretty good shape, accept for the table top.  In this case, I decided to give the paint brush a rest.  I thought the bright colored fabric would also go well in our family room/playroom. I went with it.  I flipped the table over onto the fabric and traced the table top with a black marker. I then carefully cut out trying to stay as close to the line as possible.  Once cut, I slathered the table with Mod Podge and glued the fabric carefully to the table top, spreading it out evenly. Once dry I did about 4 coats of Mod podge to the table top allowing to dry between coats.

I realize this fabric style may not be everyone’s cup of tea; However this simple coffee table makeover can be done to restore otherwise destroyed surfaces.  The fabric styles out there are endless and can be modified to a person’s individual taste. The free spirited 60’s and 70’s live on thanks to Mod Podge!

Decoupage Coffee Table

Bedroom table lamp and magazine rack restyled using Mod Podge.

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We have lived in our home for about 7 years and one of the last rooms we put our individual stamp on was our bedroom.  Out of all the rooms in our house at the time, the bedroom was the one room we could live with as is.   It was painted blue and the walls were still in pretty good shape, so we focused on some of the other rooms first that needed our attention.  My husband had a bedroom growing up that was painted grey.  Out of all the rooms he slept in over the years he said he felt more relaxed and slept better in a grey room.  Finally about two months ago we decided to go for it and finally re-do our bedroom.  After we painted the room grey it looked great, but some of our furniture did not.  As per a previous post the first thing that needed our attention was our bedroom nightstands.  We were so pleased with how they turned out we decided to decoupage our table lamp and magazine rack.  We inherited this table, as it was left behind by the previous people who lived in our house.  First thing I did was tighten the table as it was quite loose.  I cleaned the entire table with a wet cloth removing any dust and dirt.  I then glued (using Mod Podge Matte finish)   scrapbook paper to the table top, and the bottom of the magazine rack.  I then removed the drawer knob and traced the front of the drawer onto the scrapbook paper. Using an X Acto knife I carefully cut the paper and glued to the front of the drawer using Mod Podge.  Once dry, I primed the areas I planned on painting with a white latex primer. I painted the table with two coats of black acrylic paint.  Once dry, I covered the piece with 3 layers of Mod Podge allowing to dry completely between coats.  We switched out the lampshade with a lamp shade that matched from Christmas Tree Shop  http://www.christmastreeshops.com/  and poof!  Now we have a matching table, lamp and magazine rack to go along with our bedroom nightstands!

Materials used:

Mod Podge Matte Finish

X Acto knife

Scrapbook paper

White Latex Primer

Black Acrylic Paint

Pencil