Little Diva Table

I'm down in San Antonio for a dentist appointment, and got a contract on my newest flip house, so I'm going to hang out here through the inspections to see if I need to make any repairs.  I'm staying at Tera's house, and we both have had dentist appointments.  I got a temporary crown yesterday, and Tera was going to go tonight for one, and before she left, I bit into some Cheese Bread from Little Caesers, and my new temporary came off in two pieces.  BREAD?  Anyway, I guess I'll go back to the dentist tomorrow, but for tonight I want to share about the Little Diva Table.  I planned it for a little girl's bedroom.

I picked up four items at the Ladies Center one day, and two of them were 1950's Mid Century lamp tables.  Much smaller than we use today, and two tiers.  Both were brown wood, and Tera wanted one to make a block table.  So loving folk paint, I kept one to make the little Diva Table.  Not a lot of planning went into it.  I let the creative juices flow and looked at a lot of pictures of other tables at the website Decorative Paintbrush (love these gals' furniture) to get ideas.

I first covered the table with chalk paint (my last time to use it) so that I wouldn't have to sand it.  Then after 2 coats, I put my semi gloss white I keep around the house, several coats for depth.  Then I let the creative juices start.

I started at the bottom of the table with the curved legs and the cross bars, and chose four colors to use.  I painted them solid and then later started designing some designs for them.   Then I moved up to the big shelf and did some designs around the edges and painted a big butterfly (stenciled it on and then painted it).  Next I painted the legs of the upper tier, and finally the top tier which is half as big as the bottom shelf.  My daughter had made me buy these tables because they were identical to ones my Mom had.  She's now deceased, but we both had feelings for these tables, even though this one no long resembles Moms.  While I was painting this table, and it did take weeks, as I was letting artistic juices work when the urge hit - so I had the table sitting in the kitchen for a while, - my granddaughter, who was 2 at the time, loved to use it as a ladder to stand on to get up to the bar to see what was up there.  Anyway you will see from the pictures that the top tier I used a sponge and dabbed on a blue sky,  and dabbed on butterflies using stencils and using a brush put black lines to make them to appear to be flying.  I use acrylic paints from Michaels for all artwork, and the stencils from there too.  I used a lot of painter's tape to get the lines straight where I stopped colors.

Taped off the area where butterfly went.

Stencils were used for checkerboards under top tier.  Hand painted the little flowers and hearts down the sides.

See the thin pink line around top tier.  It's little things like that which make it unique.

After all the artwork was finished, the table was sprayed with clear gloss Rustoleum from Lowes, to set the acrylic.  You could not brush it on as the acrylic would smear.  Once I got the gloss over the acrylic, I added several layers of polyurethane with a brush for protection from wear and tear, and then one more coat of spray gloss.  Remember these last layers add shine and protection. 

This table has traveled with me to San Antonio two times as staging tools.  The lady who bought my first house wanted me to include it in the sale, but I wouldn't.  I'd sell it for $75 to someone, but I'm not throwing it into a sale.  It is now serving as the sidetable in the little girl room of the house I got a contract on today!!!

 

I think I had more fun painting this than anything I've ever painted.  I just had fun putting lines, hearts, checks, butterflies, just anything I wanted.  Folk art for sure.