If you're looking for the perfect piece to add character to a room, why not create a fanciful themed table? Chris Wallace, formerly of Duncan Enterprises, explains how to make a few designs anyone would envy. Mother Goose Table Materials:
Primer
Aleene's® Premium Coat Acrylics in the following colors: medium red, dusty mauve, soft mauve, dusty peach, soft sand, dusty green, soft green, soft blue, white, soft grey
Aleene's Essentials in blush and yellow ochre
Aleene's Enhancers: satin varnish (EN 102) and all-purpose primer (EN 104)
Aleene's Thick Designer Tacky Glue
Walnut Hollow large wooden angel figure (for Mother Goose)
Small wooden cutouts: pig, cow, lamb, moon, star, heart, small girl, half hen egg
1/2" rake brush
1/2" flat brush
#2 liner brush
Large flat brush
Curly doll hair
White lace
Small leaf shapes
Ribbon, assortment of colors
Straw hat
Flat wooden circles
Hot glue
Palette paper
Paper towels
Poster board
Sandpaper
Scissors
Stylus
Tracing paper
Water container
Unfinished wood table
- Mix all-purpose primer with water in a 1:1 ratio. Apply to all wood surfaces, and let dry. Sand all surfaces.
- Sketch a collar for Mother Goose's neck, and cut it from poster board.
- Apply a white base coat to the collar, the arms, the cow, the lamb and the egg.
- Apply a blush base coat to the face, the hands, the pigs and the girl's hand.
- Apply a soft-mauve base coat to the small circles for flowers and the hat.
- Mix equal parts soft-sand and yellow-ochre paint, then apply a base coat to the moon and star.
- Apply a soft-green base coat to the girl's dress.
- Apply a soft-blue base coat to the heart.
- Mother Goose collar and arms: Use the rake brush to create soft-blue stripes. Use the flat brush and soft-sand paint to add stripes between the blue stripes. Make a soft-blue wavy line on the sleeves, and make a long comma stroke on the edge of the collar with the liner brush. Use the liner to create a dusty-mauve corkscrew in flower circles. Glue flowers and leaves to Mother Goose's collar and sleeves. Glue the collar onto the arms and around the neck.
- Face: Float dusty-peach paint around the outside of the face and around the eyelids. Paint eyes with white. Paint pupils with black; paint a white highlight. Float medium red and a touch of soft mauve on the cheeks. Use the liner brush to paint the lips. Paint the nose with blush paint. Use a hot-glue gun to attach the lace, the hat, the hair and the bow (figure A).
- Three Little Pigs: Float medium red on cheeks. Paint feet and freckles with dusty peach. Paint the eyes with black. Add a white highlight to the eyes.
- Cow and moon: Paint the nose with blush, then with blush and a medium-red highlight. Paint the cow's spots with black. Paint the eyes with black, and accent with white highlights.
- Mary and the lamb: Paint white stripes on Mary's bonnet. Paint stitch lines on her dress with soft-sand paint. Paint Mary's shoes and the lamb's feet and face with soft-gray paint. Paint Mary's cheeks with medium red. Paint the eyes with black.
- Humpty Dumpty: Using the half hen egg, paint his pants soft blue. To create his shirt, make soft-gray lines. Paint his belt with soft gray. Float soft blue at the bottom of his shirt. Paint the eyes with black and the cheeks with medium red.
- Apply a protective finish of satin varnish to all wooden pieces.
- Drill holes in the shapes, and string ribbon through.
- Hang the shapes from the drawer on cup hooks (figure B).
- Secure Mother Goose by attaching her to slats screwed into the table.
Bowling-Ball Table Chris found bowling pins and a bowling ball at an antiques store. Designers at Duncan purchased a table at an unfinished-furniture store and constructed it so it looked as though the pins were being knocked over (figure C). The tabletop is a checkerboard, but doorknobs and bowling-pin shapes were used as pieces instead of checkers (figure D). To add interest, the checkerboard was painted to look like a quilt.
Angel Table Chris demonstrated the versatility of her Mother Goose table by removing Mother Goose and the dangling characters and replacing them with angelic accessories. Chris painted a Mother Goose wood form as an angel, added a gold-wire halo and hung a "Bless This Home" painted heart on the drawer knob (figure E).
Teatime Table This table is accented by papier-mache-covered cups in many bright shades hung from cup hooks below the drawer (figure F). Chris used a crackle finish to accentuate the table's corners and drawer (figure G). A piece of lattice was painted white and attached to the back of the table with VelcroB. (figure H). Wooden plates were painted and crackled in various shades to add to the display. A papier-mC"chC) teapot (a real teapot could be used) was then placed on this lovely table.
Gardening Table Chris transformed the teatime table into a gardening table by removing the hanging teacups and replacing them with gardening tools (figure I). She removed the lattice back of the table and attached a picket fence with wooden birdhouses, birds and ivy (figure J) and replaced the teapot with a painted watering can.
Birdhouse Chair and Table Designers used picket-fence pieces to construct this chair. Colorful birdhouses were added to the back of the chair, along with brightly painted birds (figure K). Any plain table can be dressed up to act as an end table to the large chair or serve as an accompanying birdfeeder. To make the feeder, attach a picture frame or tray to the top of the table, and paint it (figure L). Although designers crafted the set Chris brought to the show, with a little imagination you too can create a delightful setting for you and the birds.
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