Trash to Treasure Ocassional Table Upcycle.

Make Over Monday

table before                                                                                   and after

As you can see this cheesy little table was not in the best of shape when I found it at a tag sale last summer.  So to renew it I started by painting it white.

Next I taped the stripes with packaging tape, be sure not to press it down too hard, you don't want to remove your newly applied paint when you take it off.

Next I used a regular natural bristle brush but used a stippling motion to fill the stripes.  Be sure not to have too much paint on the brush, you don't want paint seeping under your tape and ruining your nice clean lines.

Allow the paint to dry and  carefully remove the tape.  If necessary, do touch up paint at this time with an artist paint brush.

Next you take your design (I found this one on Graphics Fairy)  printed off on your home printer and trim it close to the edges of the design, run a damp cloth across the surface of the table, and brush Modpodge onto the face of your design.  If there are words on your design be sure to flip the image on your computer. 

Now press it into the position you want on the damp surface Modpodge side down.  Gently, but firmly press the trimmed design onto your surface, the paper is wet with the Modpodge and is pretty delicate.  If it tears, smooth it out and put it into place as much as possible.

Allow to dry.  When dry (this project was allowed to dry for 3 hours) dampen your finger and start rubbing away the paper.  The design and slightly whitish decoupage medium are left.  I learned this method from this site.

After removing the paper, wipe off the table with a slightly damp cloth to remove any paper pulp or dust.  Last of all spray the surface with a clear varnish, such as 'clear spray paint', in either a shiny or flat finish, which ever you prefer.