About

Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 9h00

Say what?
I flipped over the table-top insert in a child's play table and painted it with left-over paint from the walls. (The play table was $50 instead of the $300 they wanted for real coffee tables.) Then I went to town with a paint pen and two pages of quotes. (Hint: double-check your spelling.)

It is sealed with Mod Podge. Between resting my hand from having to print neatly and letting it dry so it wouldn't smudge and all the layers of sealant this probably took a week or so. But I think the result is pretty striking and very me. There are quotes ranging from the Bible, to Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Dr. Who, Tolkien, and Erasumus to C. S. Lewis, Star Trek, and G. K. Chesterton.

I hope this inspires you with some custom projects of your own!

Posted by J. Pario from Lincoln, Nebraska, United States • Published 20th December 2012 • See J. Pario's 22 projects »

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julietierney14 added Quotable Coffe Table to Creative DIY 15 Dec 06:16
ajenne w. favorited Quotable Coffe Table 15 Jul 20:54
Miss_Fit added Quotable Coffe Table to Next Steps 17 May 23:09
J. Pario entered her project Quotable Coffe Table to Pogo Connect 05 May 16:38
J. Pario entered her project Quotable Coffe Table to Dremel Multi-Tool Contest 02 Apr 19:24
marlene j. added Quotable Coffe Table to indretning 12 Jan 20:13
betty.cramer3 favorited Quotable Coffe Table 27 Dec 08:08
Ichigo M. favorited Quotable Coffe Table 21 Dec 03:57
Jen O. entered her project Quotable Coffe Table to Secret Santa 20 Dec 20:02

Step 1
I don't have "before" pictures, but I found this one on-line that looks just like where ours started.
Step 2
The table top pops out and turned out to be blank on the underside.

All I had to do was remove the "Made in China" sticker.
Step 3
I painted the table top with leftover paint from the walls.
Step 4
Next I narrowed down 22 pages of quotes to two pages of favorites. I printed them out, and started slowly, carefully copying.

**** Use a paint pen, not a marker! ***

A marker or Sharpie is much more likely to smear when you coat the table with Mod Podge or some other sealant.
Step 5
Let the table dry at frequent intervals so you won't smear the paint from previous quotes as you write.
Step 6
When you are finished writing, let it dry completing before sealing with with Mod Podge or some other sealant.

Some people will walk around and around it, reading the quotes. It's a lot of fun, and totally unique.