"Fixing" Up Old Furniture With Decoupage

I was looking for furniture for my kid's room at a local Goodwill when I stumbled upon two little mismatched school chairs and a beaten up drawing table.  Despite their cosmetic appearance, they were stable and in good condition.  I decided to cover the top of the table with pictures of books my children love, art quotes, and some random puzzle pieces and paint the chairs to match.  I'm really happy with the results of my "fix"!

Here is what I used:

Fine sandpaper
Towel to wipe dust away after sanding
Rust-oleum Painters Touch spray paint (I needed a paint that would work on plastic)
Color printouts and puzzle pieces for decoration
Mod Podge
Foam Brush
Krylon Clear Acrylic Spray

Step 1: Start With the Right Piece of Furniture

I had a clear idea of how I wanted to decorate the table.   So, I got to work with the sandpaper to remove the old crayon and pencil marks off.   It didn't take too long to sand and I would suggest using a face mask to prevent breathing in any lead paint from old furniture. 

Once I sanded down the tabletop , I wiped it down to remove all of the dust.  I used a wet towel for this step.  You need to remove as much dust as possible in order for the adhesives to work. 

Step 2: Arrange and Glue!!

I printed off the book cover photos using a color printer and cut off the excess white page.  I played around with the arrangement until I was happy with the result. The I took a picture of it so I wouldn't forget the layout.

I used a foam brush to put Mod Podge onto the back of each photo and then onto the spot it will cover on the table.  Don't be alarmed if the Mod Podge shows up white at first, it will dry clear. 

I worked slowly so that I could reposition the photo if needed before the glue fastened.   I didn't get any photos of this part of the process because my fingers were pretty sticky! Once I finished positioning everything on the table, I slowly brushed Mod Podge on top of the entire table top to cover all of the items. Smooth out any wrinkles in the paper or bubbles that may form during the drying process or the surface will be bumpy.

Giving it about 15 minutes to dry in between each layer, I covered the table with another 3 layers of Mod Podge.  I had a lot of edges sticking up so I pressed them down for a few minutes with my fingers and that seemed to work pretty. 

I let my table dry for three days (because it was pretty humid here).  I then used a clear acrylic spray made by Krylon, and in a back and forth motion, sprayed it over the entire table top. 


Now for the chairs!  I wiped them down with a wet cloth to prepare them for the paint. Once they dried off, I used the spray paint to cover each chair completely.  This is where the face mask would come in handy again because you do NOT want to breathe this in!  Allow for drying time.

Step 3:

The clear acrylic spray leaves a glossy finish and makes it weather (and hopefully crayon) resistant.   All in all, I spent less than $20 and created a special table for my little artists!