Artsy Fartsy Stuff

So this next one is decidedly not too manly... but it was put together for the manliest place in my domain; the gazeebo in my back yard. This is where I do all of my cigar smoking. I had an old table back there that was getting pretty crusty around the edges so a refinish was in order. Rather than stopping at a sanding and refinish though, I decided to let loose with a full on decoupage top. Of course, with a Cigar theme.

I don't have any "before" pictures, but trust me when I say that this thing looked pretty rugged.

For those of you unfamiliar with decoupage, here's a quick run down. Step one; cut out a bunch of images on paper from magazines, catalogues, greeting cards or whatever strikes your fancy. Step two; use a diluted white glue or a special decoupage glue to glue everything onto your surface in a giant collage. Step three; cover the whole thing with enough coats of glue so that everything is nice and smooth and sealed down.

Here is a series of shots of the top of the table. (Overview and then 4 quadrants zoomed in)

Here is an agle shot. You can see the sheen off the decoupage medium, very smooth. 7 coats later.

In the Phoenix sun, I didn't want to risk placing items on the surface directly, so a glass plate was in order. I picked one up from a hotel liquidation center for 10 dollars that fit nicely. To support it, I used screw on anti skid bumpers from the hardware store.

Finished product here:

And the table back in its home:

As always, thanks for checking in. If you'd like any instructions or additional detail, just leave a comment. I'm happy to offer up anything I might have left out!

See you next time.