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KID'S CHALKBOARD TABLE MAKEOVER AND WHY HUDSON BAY MAKES ME CRY

January 26, 2023

3 mins read

KID'S CHALKBOARD TABLE MAKEOVER

Happy Tuesday! Today I wanted to share with you how I breathed some life back into the old kid's table that we ended up using in the camp-themed playroom.

You may recall that I dubbed this the "Laura Ashley"  table and that I scored it at Goodwill for just two bucks when Little B was still in the womb. Here's what the table looked like for the past two years....except picture it sitting in a dark basement, alone, with cobwebs all over it.

Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover
Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover

My first job was to tackle the removal of the Disney stickers that some little munchkin so gleefully stuck all over the sides of the table. Normally, I would resort to using my trusty Goo Gone but I misplaced it somewhere in the house and didn't have time to conduct a Dateline search for it. 

So I got resourceful and used good ol' baby oil instead. It worked like a charm!

Use a natural degreaser, such as baby oil to remove sticky labels and stickers from non-porous surfaces.

TIP OF THE DAY: Use a natural degreaser, such as baby oil to remove sticky labels and stickers from non-porous surfaces. You're welcome.

After removing the stickers, I gave the table a good wipe down with a rag and water and carried it out to the garage. It was time for a good, fun makeover!

For week and weeks I threw around so many ideas on how to transform this table and in the end I decided Little B would probably get the most use out of a chalkboard top. He's just now starting to get into writing with chalk on the sidewalks. Plus, there was the mommy part of me that thought this may be a good way to distract him from coloring on the walls. One could only hope, right?

Before I could do anything with this table I needed to prime it.

It took two coats to cover up that sugary-sweet-girlish motif on top. Once the second coat of primer had dried I went to town on taping off the legs with painters tape.

(Divert your eyes from the dingy garage floor!)

Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover

As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a brand new can of Krylon Chalkboard Spraypaint in my paint stash.

See....this all coming back full circle. This chalkboard table was meant to be! 

I followed the directions on the back of the can and went all spray-happy on the top of the table.

After it dried, I seasoned the chalkboard. This is a crucial step for homemade chalkboards!

I know this is saying is overused BUT seriously,

 isn't it wonderful how just a little paint can make such a difference?

Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds!

Last but not least, let's talk about the legs on the table.

 I  thought it would look neat to paint some of the leg rings different colors to coordinate with the room.

Ya know, add some pizzaz. 

Pizzaz! Pizzaz!

What a fun word....seriously, the world needs more pizzazling, don't ya think?

Okay, I digress.....back to those leg rings.

To keep with the camp-theme, I was inspired by  these old vintage Hudson Bay camp blankets and my plan was to paint each of the rings the trademark HB colors; navy, red, yellow, and green.

Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds

Sounds like a fun plan, right? WRONG! Taping off the rings so that the paint could reach each crease and crevice perfectly on the legs was a nightmare and it took me FOREVER just to tape off the 4 top rings.

Seriously, will someone please come out with curved painter's tape?!

I even attempted to freehand paint the rings with a teeny-tiny paint brush and although not overly sloppy it wasn't very clean either. 

Did I mention this was all going down 

hours before the end of the One Room Challenge?! 

I decided after the navy painted rings to just suck it up and call it quits.

Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds!
Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds!
Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds!
Kid's Chalkboard Table Makeover. A simple way to breathe life back into thrift store finds!

Don't get me wrong, I love how the table turned out. It's a far cry from it's unicorn and cotton candy days

but I'd be lying if I told you there wasn't a little piece of me that cries inside every time I think of my foiled Hudson Bay table dreams.

Sniff, sniff.

Maybe some day I'll find the energy and time to complete it (ALL LIES!)


Sharing with friends here: Miss Mustard Seed
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