Rooster Table Re-Do

Ok, just a little preface before we get started. First of all, I was almost about to title this post Cocka-Doodle-DON'T, but I didn't. That may be too cheesy, even for me. Also, this is sad, but I admit- this table revamp began as a "No Spend July" project- the date on this post's draft is 7/5/11. Isn't that sad?? I first sanded & painted it (the hard parts), then it sat, and sat, and sat, and I didn't touch it for months. Until just this weekend (which was one of the most productive weekends ever!), and it only took a few minutes to finish.
Oh well, now that that's out of the way... :)

I am so excited about the way this table turned out that I am going to commit a cardinal sin & post my After picture first off.
I can't wait any longer!



Oh, I love it!! Now, for the details...

If you do love roosters, I apologize in advance. They just don't go with the design in our house.

Oh, me. This ugly little rooster table...

BEFORE

...was purchased at a resale shop in Birmingham. I was desperate for a small table to place a plant on that had nowhere else to go.
I knew the plant would cover up the lovely rooster, so I didn't worry about it. I loved the design around the edge, which is the only part that shows. But, now that I've gotten more into painting, I thought this would be the perfect, cheap piece to practice on.
If I ruined it...well, it couldn't get much worse.

I waited a while at first, because it was WAY too hot outside to spray paint. (As I said before, this was another No-Spend July project that I'm just now getting around to finishing.) I also had some stencils that I wanted to use on something. This was finally the project for them, and I LOVE how it turned out!!

AFTER (in steps)

I started by sanding away. The poor little rooster became a faint picture in a hurry. Yay!

Then, I spray painted it with red paint (cheap-o from Dollar General) all over the smoothed surface. This shows it after just one coat:

I didn't bother to cover the legs before I painted- I sanded them off after painting, and they looked just as before, with a little red mixed in to tie the color of the legs & table together. I then sanded over the tabletop a little to smoothe it out even more, then sprayed one more coat of the pretty red.

(The above pic shows it on a different day than the previous one, so the bright sun makes the red look differently.)

*Sidenote: After this step, I brought the table back inside the house and stupidly placed the plant back on it until I could get around to the stenciling. A few days later when I was ready to stencil, I picked up the plant and noticed the grooves on the bottom of the pot had made indentions on the painted tabletop. Ugh!! I can't explain how frustrated I was. I took the table back outside, sanded & painted again, but it never looked the same after that. The surface is still uneven, which kills my perfectionist self, but I got over it. I have to let go of that when I paint. No one will ever notice details like that but me. So, this time, I got over it and just began the next step... after a few months had passed, that is. :)

After bringing the table back inside, it did sit for many months- July to January, to be exact. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to finish it up. Weird how one day month you can be excited about a project, then the next, you just lose interest. Anyway, it's done now, and that's what matters...

I sanded the top again, just to make a better surface for the acrylic paint. Next, I used the stencils. I taped them along the edges, and used brown acrylic paint to paint inside the stencils. I love the center design so much, I don't want to cover it back up with the plant. I guess we're back to square one now, trying to find a new home for the plant. Ha!

Here are some photos of the steps. Some look a little rough, but they were all steps to get to the finished product.

First coat with stencil...

Second coats with center stencil & edge stencil...

Working my way around with the stencils & two coats on each...
I know the red looks rough since I sanded it, but no worries- it turned out beautifully!

This shows the first coat of Mod Podge drying, while I sanded some of the red paint off of the legs.

I posted this pic in black & white, because it better shows the coverage of the Mod Podge. This is just after the first coat. I did a few more after this one, just for good measure.

Here's a close-up shot of the detail...

I did several top coats of Mod Podge, because I knew I would have a plant (with water) on top of this table. I wanted lots of protection for this baby. The only thing I may change is sanding the legs a bit more. Other than that, I'm so happy about my second time ever to paint furniture! (You can see my first here.)

So, a quick Before & After for the lazies who don't want to keep scrolling back & forth (myself included):

BEFORE



AFTER

Bye-bye, birdy! :)

Linking this up to...




...and many others!