Adventures with Spray Paint and Mod Podge, Part I

Second-hand furniture of Champaign County, look out: I've discovered the joys of spray paint and mod podge and I have my eye on you.


My first foray into the wonders of mod podge was probably around the age of 10, with no more exciting materials to work with than construction paper and old magazines.  But I was recently reinitiated into this dark underworld after staring at a couple hand-me-down tables gifted from my friend Jen when she moved away last year.  (Miss you, Jen!)  These are great tables - solid wood with cute design - but in need of a new look.  They were covered in a dark wood stain that did nothing to enhance their shape, and somehow made them look like fake wood paneling.

I forgot to take a photo of the smaller one pre-fun, but I will eventually post a photo of the coffee table that matched it.

I attacked this first project with an optimistic creative impulse.  No idea what I'm doing?  No problem!  I will find the answers by wandering aimlessly around Hobby Lobby!  Well, sorta.  Two hours later I returned home with nothing more than some pretty damask craft papers (I cannot find these online but the designs are similar to this style and palette), two cans of spray paint (Rust-o-leum Satin in Eden and in Summer Squash), and a large bottle of mod podge (I chose matte rather than glossy because I thought it might not draw as much attention to my mistakes).  It's really hard to imagine an entire table based on the top of a spray paint can.  This could easily go in the puke-green direction, but I decided to take my chances.  Then I looked again at the table.  Faced with my cluelessness about such matters, I went to the best source of information for all things wonderful, wacky, and stupid - the internet.  Thanks to some excellent craft blogs, including the funnest of all - Mod Podge Rocks!  (Did you know that people are mod podging things like coasters, acorns, and shoes?  It's a brave new word we live in!)  I found some examples and some instructions (apparently in craft world, referred to as "instructibles").  Whatever they are called, they are incredible useful.  Hail to the diy crafting geniuses out there in internetland!  After another hour or so at the Home Depot buying sandpaper, cheapy foam paint brushes, and painters tape, I was back in action.



First I spray painted the drawer in Summer Squash yellow, and the rest of the table in green.  A little drippy, but no matter, I am not a perfectionist.  I was probably too liberal in my spraying "technique" (which consisted of no technique except spraying with wild abandon).  It dried pretty fast (20-30 min), so I did a few coats until the paint can was empty.  The next day, fully dried, I brushed the top of the table with an exorbitant amount of mod podge and placed my paper on the top.  I tried to squeeze out all the air bubbles, but this was harder than it looked.  I ripped the paper in a few places, probably because it was soaked in glue.  I pushed everything into place as best as I could.  When it dried a bit, I brushed mod podge on top as well to seal it up.  Cool!

But I hadn't planned for the edges very well.  For some reason I thought it would look better if I left some green edge on top of the table, almost like a frame around the paper.  This may have been a mistake.  It would have been very easy to cut away the paper around the edges to fit perfectly once it was dry. But too late, I had precut the paper before adhering.  Plus, although the yellow drawer was a very cheerful and a nice color, it seemed to clash in spirit with the paper.  So I returned to Home Depot for more sandpaper and more Eden.  I repainted the drawed in green and tried my best to paint over the edges on top.  Not awful, but might want to redo the top at a later date.  Or, maybe I could paint some cardstock-strength paper and adhere that to the edges for a cleaner look?  Since this was my first effort, I don't mind it being kind of sloppy.  I bought a cute ceramic knob for the finishing touch.  All told, a super cheap redo at around $14-18 (paint under $4 per can, paper 59 cents, mod podge around $7 with a lot left over, and $3 for the knob).  It's definitely cheerier than before.