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Set 'em up!

© Karon Goodman

The next time you want to play a game of chess or cards, don’t waste your time clearing the dining table -- set up your own unique game table that you recycled yourself! Any old card table will do because you can cover all the flaws with paint. View one makeover here: http://www.mindspring.com/~billgoodman/g... .

When you find an old table like this one, don’t worry about how bad the top appears -- just use your imagination! Clean the top and the legs. You can paint the legs, too, if you want, but I chose not to on mine. My table top was wood with no finish, so priming wasn’t necessary. If you have another material to work with, you may want to prime it.

Choose a color for the top. I knew that I wanted to paint some white cards and dice on mine, so I chose a creamy pale yellow. It was some leftover flat latex from another project. However, any kind will do, so use what you have. I applied two coats. For the details on the table, I used acrylic craft paint, but you can use whatever you want.

Next, I painted the checker/chess board. The blocks are 1-1/2 inches square. I did the math and located the board in the middle of my table top. You can do the same, and you can make your blocks any size you want. I blocked off the board with blue painter’s tape and painted the entire area white.

Then, I used more painter’s tape and painted every other block black. You may need to go back and paint the white blocks again when you’re done. Then I painted a thin red line all the way around the board to give it a border and make it even more prominent.

I wanted cards, Tri-Ominos and dice on my table, too. I used the actual items to guide my painting. For the hands of cards, I placed the cards down on the table and traced lightly around them with a pencil. Then I simply freehanded the details. You may not be able to tell from the photograph, but all the hands are winning hands!

Next I placed some Tri-Ominos around and again freehanded them. They are just black with numbers, so that part was very easy.

The red item you see painted toward the front of the table is a cup from a Yahtzee game. There are five dice there also, as if they spilled out of the cup. Again, a winning toss!

The copyright of the article Set 'em up! in Recycling Furniture is owned by Karon Goodman. Permission to republish Set 'em up! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.