DIY skull Tables

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Last night My husband and I started a DIY that I have been meaning to get to for a while.

My sister in law gifted us these adorable tables last year for the holidays.

 

As you can see the year hasn't exactly been kind to them. As for the one on the right, I was not paying attention early one morning and applied a cleaner containing bleach to it and as I wiped away the mess the pretty red color went with it :\ 

 

 

So This definitely called for some DIY efforts. The hubby and I settled on one of my sketches for the new look. This Skull I sketched a few months ago.  

It seemed just a perfect craft for the eve of Halloween and the perfect post for today.  

Okay so lets get to the steps we went through to create these artsy table redos.

 TEA PAPER 

We used  about four sheets of regular printer paper and black tea in the hopes that it would give the deepest color.

You can simply make a cup of tea (or a pot) and spoon out the tea bag/bags (if you have a partner) and enjoy your tea while you blot the paper with the bag. Or you can do what we did and just fill a bowl with warm water let it steep a tiny bit and then grab the tea bags from there. It does come in handy to have a bowl of water nearby to re hydrate your tea bags as you go.

Blot, smear, wipe, rub, splat or whatever just get the color from the tea onto that paper. Gently enough to avoid ripping the moistened paper or the tea bag of coarse.

 

Allow the papers to dry.

 

      Clean and Sand Tables

While the tea papers dry is a good time to sand the table top. The abrasion gives something for the glue to settle into so that what your gluing has a better grip on what its glued to.

Print Image

I've been lucky enough to find this photo paper at the dollar tree. 8 sheets for just a dollar.

I printed my skull image onto this because my printer refuses to print a proper image on anything but photo paper.

(Print one per table.)

 

Rip it up

Rip around the edges.

Do both. They don't have to match exactly.

When the tea paper is dry.  Rip away any flat edges.

From this......

To this....

Then rip the tea paper into irregular pieces.

 

 

Now it's time to start attaching the art to the table tops.

You can use any kind of decoupage method you choose including store bought mod podge. I took this opportunity to make my first attempt at making my own mod podge at home for under a dollar. I will put the recipe and instructions into a separate post linked here.
DIY mod podge

               .

To adhere the paper to the table top I coated the area of the table that I was working in lightly with the DIY mod podge mixture. Then I coated the back of the paper to be placed.

Then flip it over and place it firmly where I want it.

Then mod podge over the top and around the edges.

All the way around the edges of the table in a circle making sure that the area that I leave exposed is small enough to be cover by my printed skull image.

Allow that to dry.

After it has dried it will become more opaque. If there are however any areas that didn't get entirely covered then just layer on some more paper pieces to cover them.

 

Once the paper is completely dry and covered to your liking. It's time to cut away the excess  paper hanging over the edges of the table. Using a razor, box cutter, or x acto knife.

CAREFULLY! & like so...  ( Only,  please use two hands. I needed one to snap the photo)

You may notice some roughness around the edges.

Smooth them out by very gently sand papering them smooth just at the edge.

 

Apply the Skull

Using the same mod podge method as for the tea paper. I applied the mixture to the back of the skull image.

Placed it how I liked it best. Then coated the tops and edges as well as over the entire table top surface including around the edge of the table top.

Allow that to dry. Then apply a second coat. Apply as many coats as you think are necessary to keep the surface smooth enough that nothing will catch and rip up. However not so many that the solution clouds the image (unless that's the look you want. Just make sure to do it in layers so that it can dry thoroughly and wont be sticky)

After everything is how you want it. Coat it with a protective seal appropriate for the conditions your art will be in. I will use this spray seal because I have some left over from another project and it seems to have worked out well for me on that one.

My tables are still in the making right now I wanted to post this for Halloween so I will update this later with the finished photos.

Happy Holiday!

And don't forget to check out that mod podge DIY ;)
DIY mod podge