Moroccan Table #1

As promised, here's a peek into one finished project: The Morocco inspired nesting table. I still have two more to complete, but those are keeping houseplants away from nosey dog snouts for now.

I started with a vague idea, and three cheapy nesting tables via Craigslist ($10 baby!), A little dirty, mostly scuffed, and under a charmingly thick layer of oily cleaners & veneer. After an inordinate about of time sifting through old art class handouts and the mounting collection of Moroccan inspired images I've collected, I finally came up with a design that I could reproduce.

A few hours at the light table, several sheets of paper, and a few choice words for the endless stream of broken pencil tips produced this:

Then came time to sand down the table (by hand, mind you. No fancy-pants tools for this girl). It would have been shorter on time, and easier on my knuckles if I had any sort of electric sander handy...probably why I'm still procrastinating with the other two tables.


So, a good thorough sanding leads to an equally thorough wiping down with a tack cloth, then transferring the design from paper to the wood itself. I taped the original design to a sheet of contact paper, and sliced away.  I'm sure there's an easier way to do this. Like ordering a stencil (which, in hind sight, would have also been much easier on my hands, but, hey, I learn the hard way). I, being the stubborn lady I am, decided to use an exacto knife to cut out the pattern. Pre-made stencils, people...they are your friend.

Once my home-made stencil was complete, I laid it out over the nekkid wood, and went to town with gold paint pen. After the base design was down, I decided a border would be nice, so the edges of the table were attacked with masking tape. I have no idea what size, it just seemed to work.

Then comes the really fun (messy) part-painting! While at the local Home Depot , I wandered off and  fell in love with a Behr color chip by the name of "Berry Charm." Of course, I had no idea what it would be used for, so I bought a color sample to add to my growing collection of "stuff I love but have no current use for."
Fast forward to the table. It was perfect. The gold, the rich violet. Very luxurious, very Morocco. 

 

Once that Berry Charm worked it's magic, I simply couldn't help myself. The mini paint roller took control, and attacked the rest of the table. Legs, sides, it was all fair game. The hardest part of the painting session was keeping the dog fluff to a minimum  between coats. I'd venture a guess and say I put two on there, plus loads of touch-ups where clumsy fingers , noses, and a giant husky-butt got too close to wet paint. In the meantime, some turquoise was put down on the top of my table. I would love to tell you the name color and brand of this gorgeous paint, but the bottle is so old and abused, I could barely read "Acrylic" on the front. It's a craft paint of some sort, if that helps?

I decided that a defined border was called for, so out comes the masking tape again, strips put down on either side of where I wanted the border to be. It took about three passes with my gold paint pen this time around, mostly because I kept finding little gaps and bumps that needed fixing. The final step was to haul this baby outside and descend upon it with a bottle of clear indoor/outdoor spray paint (thank you, Krylon, for making that part a breeze).

It took about three days of working off & on to finish this sucker. Some things I will probably change when I go to work on the next two tables:

• Use an electric sander: I wasted a lot of time, energy, and skin trying to sand this down by hand. Though we don't have one right now, I can wait until we do. Getting more power tools was something we both wanted to do, anyway.

• Stencils: While I kind of dig the irregularities in the pattern, it will be a huge sanity saver to just find, or order a custom stencil to get the pattern down.If I can score a reusable stencil, all the better.

• Cleaner work place: I love my dogs, I really really do. I just don't love how much they contribute to the painting projects (and dinner) with all that fur floating around our house. If I could find a dog-free zone to finish this up, I would. While the random strands of paint-locked hair are homey, it's not quite what I was hoping for. Having to chase down a beast before she sits because she got her hind-end too close to wet paint, really puts a cramp in the flow of things too.

Originally intended for the back porch, the table is making an appearance as my nightstand for awhile. At least until I can drag my butt outside long enough to clean up the porch area.
So, whaddya think? Can I keep my "crafty" member card for awhile?