My End Table is FINALLY done!

One night I was watching a movie upstairs in the media room with my hubby and I realized that I didn't have anywhere to put my popcorn and drink if I was sitting on the end.  The search was on!  First, I found some great scrapbook paper to Mod Podge onto a piece of furniture.  I have never refinished furniture before so I didn't want to spend much money on the furniture.  I stopped by every thrift store that I drove by for over a month until I finally found the perfect "canvas" for my art.  I drove by a thrift store that I didn't know was even there, made a U-turn and ran in.  I went to the back of the store and immediately found this little gem for $3.99.  YUP... three dollars and ninety-nine cents!!!  I couldn't believe it!  I snatched it up and took it up to the check out.  Sure it was a cheap piece of furniture with a little damage, but it was perfect!  The only thing really wrong with it was a small warped spot on the top.  No big deal.

The first thing I did was sand all the stain off of the legs.  The rest of the end table was a wood veneer, so all I could do to it was rough it up so that it would hold the primer a little better.

Next, I spray painted Kilz primer on the entire end table.  My media room has deep reddish maroon curtains in it, so I was lucky enough to find a clearance paint sample at Home Depot for less than a dollar that matched my curtains perfectly.  After the Kilz was dry, I painted a coat of the maroon paint on.

I wanted a distressed vintage look, so banged it up with washers strung on a small rope, a hammer and nail and the sharp edge of a screw driver.  I read on the internet that if you use wax on the base coat of your paint and then paint over it, it is much easier to remove the paint from the top for distressing.  I tried a tea light candle, but it just crumbled.  I found a white crayon in Sarah's crayon stash that worked great.  I colored on the maroon paint in a few spots.  Then I spray painted the table a dark brown. (I had to do this in the garage at this point because it was cold and rainy outside.... I did the "hold your breath, point, spray and run back inside method").

Once the brown spray paint was dry, I took a fine grit sand paper and steel wool to distress the paint.  To remove the paint that I used the crayon on, I just used the edge of a screw driver and gently scraped the paint all over.  In those spots, the paint simply chipped off. 

Next, I cut out the scrapbook paper to fit the table and Mod-Podged it on (LOVE that stuff!)

I read (or rather, watched) some helpful hints on the tutorials on Mod Podge Rocks blog.  If you are new to Mod Podge, I would highly recommend watching.

 And finally, it is dry.

And then, put together.

It's the perfect size for the spot at the end.  I LOVE it!

Isn't this scrapbook paper great??  I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and knew it would be perfect for our media room.  After a year, we still don't have any art on the walls up there.  There is more scrapbook paper in the pack, so I plan on Mod Podging it to canvas to hang on the wall.  Here is a link to the see more of the paper on Tim Holtz's blog.

Linking to:

I AM the MASTER of the clock! (aka.. Mod Podging a clock)

I know, the title of this post is a little strange, but this clock project I did was a real booger.  I don't have a clock in my craft/sewing room/library/guest room and every time I go to work in there, I have to get up frequently to check the time so I don't miss Sarah's after school pick up time (I know... it would be easier to wear a watch, but somehow, I always for get to put it on).  I didn't want to spend much money, but the only cheap clocks were really.... I don't know... cheap.  I have been Mod Podging things and figured I would fix up one of the cheap clocks to make it look better.

Here is the before picture of the clock.  It's a $5 clock from Wal-Mart.

I took the clock apart and pulled off the face.  Unfortunately, after I pulled off the hands, I decided to put them back on to make sure the clock would still work.  It did. so I took the hands off and when I did, the center pin came out with the second hand.  It didn't work after that.  Back to Wal-Mart for another $5 clock.

I had the perfect scrapbook paper that I had bought for another project.  It is Tim Holtz Ideal-ology Lost and Found stack.  It has lots of really cool vintage designs. If you want to take a look at it, HERE is a link.  I cut one of the smaller clock faces out of the top corner to put in the middle of my clock face.

Since I broke the previous clock when I took the hands off, I decided to not chance it and just work around the hands.  I cut a small hole in the center of the paper and a slit from the edge to the middle, covered the face in Mod Podge then carefully slid the paper in place.  Next I covered the face in several coats of Mod Podge, moving the hands of the clock around as needed.

I bought a fat quarter of a marble looking fabric at Jo Ann's, cut it into strips and Mod Podged it around the edge of the clock on the inside and around the outside rim. 

Next thing I did was put the clock back together.  It didn't work.  I don't know what I did wrong.  I was very careful with it... UGGG!  I was frustrated.  Two clocks down.  I told myself one to go and headed back to the store.  This time I was at Target and found this one for $2.87.  I didn't know what to do with it.  The paper stack I bought only had one large sheet of clocks and the store I got it at didn't have any more.  I really didn't want to start from scratch and the clock from Target didn't look as easy to decoupodge because the outer rim was part of the clock (unlike the Wal-Mart one that was separate)

I started looking at the clocks and decided to see how easy it was to remove the clock mechanism.  I used a screwdriver and they popped right off of the Wal-Mart clocks.  Tried the Target clock and it worked.  I was so relieved!  I put my clock back together, put the battery in.  It didn't work!  It was doing the same exact thing as the 2nd one that didn't work.  I almost cried (seriously).  Wait a minute!  I looked more closely... I had put the same broken clock mechanism right back on the clock (is it time to stop dying my hair blond?).  I got the screwdriver again and popped it off again.  When I did, I broke the plastic piece that holds the mechanism in place. GRRRR!  Only a  minor frustration, though.  Nothing a hot glue gun couldn't fix.  I put the right clock mechanism in, but a battery in and HALLELUJAH it WORKED!! 

After doing a happy dance for the next 5 minutes, I cleaned the glass, put it all back together and hung it up. 

I think I'll do another one for Sarah's room and for the guest bedroom.  I'll post pictures when I get them done.  It will be a while because I finally found a side table (for $3.99!! at a thrift store) to redo for the media room.  I have no idea how to do it, but I know I am using paper from this scrapbook pack (it's what I bought it for).