“A classic model of the stages of creativity roughly translates to 3 modes of focus: orienting—where we search out and immerse ourselves in all kinds of inputs; selective attention on the specific creative challenge and open awareness, when we associate freely to let the solution emerge—then home in on the solution.”

Daniel Goleman, “Focus”

 

The other day my 3-year-old was lamenting the fact that she doesn’t have a bedside table next to her big girl bed. Wouldn’t it be great to have a place to set her milk, books or stuffed animals before she heads to our bedroom to sleep each night?

I thought, why not find a little cheap table at a thrift store and fix it up? So, I found this one.

Okay, so with this 20% off coupon it wasn’t 4.99 but actually $3.99. What a deal, huh? When you donate to Thrift stores, they kindly give you coupons–EVERY TIME YOU DONATE ANYTHING!

As you can see, the table was in good condition. It had a very nice, simple structure and made of solid wood. All it needed was a little perking up.

What color? My daughter was set on a soft, powdery, sky blue.

I was reminded of Lowe’s, Home Depot and other hardware stores. They would have tons of colors but I would have to pay for the paint–an added expense to an already cheap table. Not something I wanted to do. The paint, alone, would cost me an additional $5- $10 bucks. But I’m a cheap freak and I like to find ways to use what I already have on hand.

It suddenly dawned on me that, WAIT, I am a (acrylic painting) artist and have TONS of paint in a huge assortment of colors! Not only that, but I knew we had a few half gallons of white paint in the garage from past wall projects. This white paint could be easily mixed with my acrylic artist paint. Why not create my own color(s)?

Also, I found some sand paper amidst everything.  The point? Always search your entire house and garage to find things that can be used before you head to the store! You’ll save time, gas, energy and money.

Just grab a plastic container from your kitchen storage area (these containers come in handy whether they are take-out containers, lunch meat containers or the containers from microwave dishes)–these are ideal for mixing paint and creating new colors 🙂

And here I mixed up my (artist acrylic) blue paint with some household/interior white paint.

Once thoroughly sanded and cleaned, I flipped the table over and started painting the tough areas first–bottom and legs.

I decided I wanted a two-toned blue color scheme.  To achieve the look below, GIVE YOUR TABLE AT LEAST 4 COATS OF PAINT! (1 new coat each day)

Finally, I decided that it needed some embellishments. I had a couple jars of shiny stones, tiles and other saved objects that I’ve collected from various home décor stores like Michael’s, Pierre 1 Imports etc.

In a previous life (2010) I did a table top mosaic on a cheap, plastic table. Here it is:

 

Use whatever you might have on hand to adorn your table–old earrings, necklace pieces, pieces of Christmas ornaments, beads, stones, chains, shells…the list is infinite.

I’ve found that a glue gun works quite well for sticking tiles to wood. Notice that I practiced on a piece of wood (pictured here) before I attempted on my freshly painted table:

 

Arrange your adornments/tiles on the counter to determine what you’re going for. Once they’re glued down, you won’t be able to get them off.

Take out your glue gun. Heat it up and unleash your creative mind!

You never know what you’ll think up next. Simplicity is always a good idea.

And…change it up on the opposite side if you want.

A fun bedside table to set books and sippy cup–$3.99 plus a little work.