Union Jack Table

It's so shiny, it's hard to see the table!

This is my first Blag.  A blag, as I mentioned in my last post,  is a cross between a blog entry, and just flat out bragging.  It is a blag because I want to show you and tell you about the Union Jack table I made!

First I need to tell you that I am a reluctant Anglophile.  Why reluctant?  Anglophilia can be very annoying.  When someone is so very, very in love with someplace that they are NOT most of the time, it sends the message that they are dissatisfied with where they are.  It is not fun to be with people who imply dissatisfaction.  I was perfectly happy to simply admire England politely from afar, until I went there.

And I fell deeply in love.  I fell in love with the draperies, and the manners, and even the food.  I loved the shops and the tea and of course the scones!  I overlooked the toilets (they don’t flush), the fashion (it doesn’t exist), and the cake icing (it is crunchy, like they haven’t discovered confectioner’s sugar).

I stayed in the beautiful countryside known as the Cotswolds for a week.  I never, not once, took a step into London, and I was okay with that.  I still am.  I wouldn’t mind going someday, but I don’t mind that I didn’t.  That’s how beautiful the Cotswolds were. 

Now that I’ve been, I can recognize a British room in a decorating magazine just by looking at it.  The same goes for illustrations in children’s books.  I identify with the quote, “I am not the same for having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world” –  by Mary Anne Radmacher

You know my inspiration, now on to the table.  I found this table in the basement of my first flat.  I painted it a teal-ish faux marble back then.   Faux painting was huge! Later I planned to make it a  game table with a painted-on game board, but I guess I just pooped out after covering it with off-white paint. After sitting around all pathetic and off-white for a while I decided I wanted to do a Union Jack design, but I did not want to be literal with the colors.  I LOVE scrapbook paper and went to the store and found an antique red patterned paper, and a white paper with a blue design.   I decided to paint on a black background.

I then discovered that the Union jack design is not as simple as I thought!  Some of the white stripes are wide, and some are narrow.  I am mathematically challenged, and my table was not the same size ratio as the flag, so I could not re-create it exactly.

I used Modge Podge to stick the design down, and  covered the whole table, with several coats. I let the paper edges stick over the table, and used a nail file to file the edges.  I was going to touch up the paint on the sides but realized in what my husband referred to as the ultimate in pre-planning (since I had first painted the table more than 20 years ago), the layers of paint underneath exactly matched the colors in my project.  I loved the way it looked with the colors peek-a-booing through the black, and I left them.

This was supposed to be the end.  But it failed.  The Modge Podge was simply not enough.  The pieces were coming up and I realized that it was time to venture into the world of epoxy!

Masked off, ready to pour epoxy

I bought the epoxy at the home improvement store.  I then masked off the table legs with an old plastic table cloth and masking tape.  I followed the directions, and in my bathroom, poured the epoxy.  I used an IKEA squeegee to help the epoxy along.

Here’s what I would do differently next time.  #1)  Use a table with a removable top.  I was afraid to leave the masking paraphernalia on because it would attach to the epoxy, but I ended up taking it off too soon.  If I could have just poured over a table top and let it drip, it would have been better  #2)  I would not do it in the bathroom.  Basement?  Maybe.  But not the bathroom.  I don’t love that room, but I also don’t love the dried blob of epoxy in the shower.

Top view which shows the wet-looking areas where seepage occurred

It was really, really, really hard not to touch the epoxy.  After a few days, it was super smooth, super hard, and super cool.  There are flaws.  Some of the epoxy flowed under the paper making it look permanently water damaged, but I kind of like the look, it looks like an old flag.  I also have a drip or two of epoxy down the sides.  All in all, I love it, and the kids can’t stop touching the epoxy, it’s SO smooth.  I can’t wait to do the next one!