Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays, Refinished Coffee Table …

In the beginning of spring when I began cleaning out the flowerbeds my daughter Abbey claimed a little spot in our mint garden and called it her house. Our mint garden runs along two sides of our house and is surrounded by a little fence and a gate. She was constantly running in and out of the garden and playing in it. Whenever someone would stop by she would show them her house.

All that was in her house was a wooden walkway, mint, sage, and some pumpkin seedlings, but she loved it and was so proud to call it her own.

I decided I was going to fix it up a bit for her. I had a coffee table in the basement that I had bought years ago at a flea market for maybe five dollars. I decided that would be her little bench. I also wanted to make a rug to set the table on so it would not get all muddy when it rained. I went through some left over wood we had in the basement to make a rug for her table.

My husband helped me put together the rug. We took a piece of plywood and nailed some left over boards around the bottom to make it sturdy. Then we took some left over canvas I had from a large commission piece I had done several years ago and wrapped the plywood. Once it was together I primed the rug with left over black paint we had. After that was dry I took acrylic paint and painted the rug design on the canvas. Lastly I sprayed the rug with a protective varnish I use on my paintings. Total cost of the rug zero dollars.

The first thing I did to the table was go over it with sandpaper. I wanted to get as much varnish off of it as I could so the paint would adhere to the table. After it was sanded I put several coats of left over white paint we had onto the table. I think it was our living room ceiling paint. Once that was dry I painted Abbey’s little pink house on the table. The last thing I did to complete the piece was spay it with a protective varnish. Total cost of the bench project five dollars.

She was so excited when it was finished. She loves to play in her little house. Abbey is so proud to have her own little spot.

Please stop over and visit Coastal Charm and all her thrifty followers for, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.