Thrift Store Table Revamped

In my attempt to begin sitting on my front porch and getting to know my neighbors better (I have a fully fenced-in backyard that I consider my happy place, so I typically spend my summers there), I thought I would redec a thrift store table I had recently picked up, in the hopes that it would become my morning coffee-sipping space. I started by unscrewing each of the table legs from the tabletop and spray painting them with two coats ofoff-white using Krylon indoor/outdoor paint. I then spray painted the tabletop hunter green.

After the tabletop was completely dry, I placed pieces of painters tape from one end of the tabletop to another and continued to overlap them randomly. Using the same off-white, spray paint as on the table legs, I painted two coats over the tape. Once the tabletop had dried, I removed the painter's tape to reveal a pretty nifty design. After some brief touch ups to areas that looked a litte funky, I reconnected the legs to the tabletop and Voila...I present you my morning coffee spot!

Table similar to the one I bought at my local thrift store

I really should've taken more "before" shots (ahhh, hindsight...), but here is a picture of the tabletop covered with painter's tape and two coats of off-white, paint

Completed project

Coffee corner

Chevron Painted Children's Stool

One of the (many...just ask my husband) gifts we gave Claire for her birthday was a wooden stool. While she probably can't use it the way it is meant to be used just yet, I could not pull myself away from buying it when I saw it at the craft store (story of my life)! Do you ever start thinking  about the endless amount of possibilities there are to decorate something and then get so overwhelmed that you have to put the project away and give it a few days (or weeks, or months...) before actually picking it up again and making it happen? Yeah, me neither ;) After thoughtful contemplation for longer than I care to admit, I decided on the pattern and color-scheme I wanted and got to work.

 Here's what... 

 Materials needed: 

 -acrylic paint (I used a light purple and a light blue for my color scheme) 

-foam paint brush or roller

-painter's tape 

-vinyl, adhesive letters -sealant spray 

 Instructions: 

 1. Paint the stool with two coats of acrylic paint in the color chosen as the base.

 2. After paint is completely dry, place painter's tape across the seat of the stool in a chevron pattern. 

     My pattern is, in no way, even, but I think its got character!

 3. Paint two coats of second color over the seat of the stool.

 4. Once the paint is completely dry, carefully peel off the painter's tape. Touch up any spots that may 

     have bled.

 5. Adhere vinyl letters to the seat of the stool. 

 6. Spray two coats of sealant on the stool. 

While it is not perfect, and I can see the lines I should've made straighter and marks of paint I could've made cleaner, I look forward to watching her use it to brush her teeth on her own or to sit on to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning and to hopefully keep for years and years to come because mommy made it for her! In my book, there is no greater reason to craft than that!