Children’s Church Table

The children’s church tables needed a facelift because the veneer on top was damaged and yucky looking and getting hard to clean. Linda spent a whole day stripping the top surface off, then scraping and sanding so there was clean wood. I got both the tables on my deck then and began restoring the tabletops. First, there is the primer layer to seal the particle board that was exposed. You should have seen how fast the primer is absorbed into that type of wood, especially when you are painting in 100 degree farenheight weather.

This table design is a bright and colorful statement, “Let Your Light Shine”. So, I start with a subliminal “sun” shining message with an obvious sunburst in the middle fading out to white on the ends.

After the sunburst background dries, I use chalk to draw the letter shapes straight and with enough room for all of the letters. If I try to wing it, there can easily be an “oops” disaster to deal with. For me, safety is the best road for doing lettering. You can see how the words are laid out in the next 4 images.

Now, you can see how each letter is initially just painted with alternating primary and secondary colors. I am just starting out simple.

The basic letter forms are then creatively outlined and decorated to make them interesting. This open-ended design as you go step is my favorite part.

Further embellishments begin with added flowers, leaves, vines, stars, hearts, flowers, and bubbles spread out all over the table. Then little critters are added to become conversation starters for the kids.

Wa La! we are finished after two coats of polyurethane to seal and protect everything.