Note ~ I soooooo wish I had a fancy camera so that I could do this fun table justice in these pics! Just imagine that it’s every bit as cute as you see in the picture, and then multiply it by maybe ten, okay? I promise it’s that cute!

I‘m pretty sure this is my favorite Friday Fluff Up ever. (Well, I maybe liked the laundry room re-do a little better, but this is a very close second!) Last weekend while visiting my in-laws, I I happened to notice a small table by the curbside at their neighborhor’s house while packing up our mini-van. I (ever-so-stealthily. . .) ran across the street, picked up the table, and hid it in the trunk hoping no one would notice. (You see, my hubby’s dealt with my curbside finds quite a few times over the last fifteen years, and doesn’t always love them quite as much as I do!)

However, my ever-observant nine year old of course noticed the table the minute we got in the car (in the dark, mind you!) and hollered, “Hey Dad. . . did you know there’s a table back here all covered with stickers?” Yup, my cover was gone. Thankfully he didn’t ask anything, just unloaded the table when we got home at midnight while shaking his head.

Little did he know that for the last few months, I’d been checking the prices at Hobby Lobby on small tables for our front porch. I really wanted a little table to hold a magazine, glass of lemonade, or small flower arrangement, but hated the thought of spending much on it. Of course, when I saw this table, I knew I needed it! On Monday my girls helped remove all the stickers with hot water and a knife, and we set to work.

I had planned on just painting it, but while we were working something reminded me of how much the kids love to play checkers at Cracker Barrel. (We had just eaten there over the weekend, so I guess I had Cracker Barrel’s front porch on my mind!) I started thinking that maybe we could checkerboard it, but simply no idea where to start. I first began by painting the entire table with white paint (leftover from the front porch) and taped off a basic square because I knew I wanted a painted edge around the outside of the board.

The only money that I spent on the project was $5 for a 1″ roll of painter’s tape at Lowe’s. . . we used leftover paint from other projects in our home to paint it!

Then I added a smaller tape to make a small white square. . .

And covered the inside of the “board” with tape before designing it.

My ever-so-sweet, amazing. . .fantastic. . . smart. . .did I mention probably genius? husband then took a straight edge and a ruler and did the math to make the 1 1/2″ squares for the checkboard. The checkerboard pattern measures 12″x12″.

Finally, I just painted everything in the middle of his design (I had painted the outer edges and legs earlier), peeled back the tape, and magically it all worked!

My sweet Caroline came up with the idea to use seashells as checkers, because I just couldn’t see red and black checkers matching the cute table. At first she thought maybe we could use some kind of rock, and then after talking a bit the seashell idea came up. I did have to purchase those for $2.99 at Michael’s, but they were so worth it!

I’m absolutely tickled to have my little project done, and just realized that our child-sized table which I was just about to throw out last week might be perfect for the other end of the porch. (I have a whole new idea for that one all ready to go. . . so hopefully it will come together soon!)

Have you done any fun fluffing up projects this week? I’d love to hear about them! Also, I’d love for you to join me over on Pinterest (I love that place!) And if there’s a craft you’ve seen on a website that you’re hoping to make, feel free to share that link as well (I’m always looking for new ideas!)

See more previous Friday Fluff Up projects and ideas . . . and Happy Fluffing!

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