DIY Dictionary Table

The best scrabble table ever. EVER. after garrison's brilliant idea (which he thought of without the use of pinterest) all we had to do was buy some mod podge and an old dictionary from DI or any secondhand bookstore. The project probably took us 4 hours to complete from start to finished and dry. (and most of the time it was just little ol' OCD me working on it, so if you had two people it would take much less time especially if you weren't as particular like me)

supplies:
1. old coffee table (or any furniture really) that you don't like
2. Dictionary pages
3. mod podge
4. brush
5. sandpaper
6. razor or exact-o-knife
7. tarp, sheet, or newspaper to put on the floor
8. ruler or something with a straight edge

The History of Our Table:
       it's actually quite a funny story how we pulled it out of the dumpster at King Henry Apartments while we were dating, we spray painted it for a date and wrote both of our names "Garrison + Valeri" on the bottom of the table. from there it sat in garrison's apartment living room. I remember being worried that if we ever broke up, he would probably just throw it away because we had painted our names on it like that. but, luckily we were engaged just a few months later.
      a few days before our wedding, garrison painted it again with a gray-ish shiny top coat that took FOREVER to dry so that it would match our "gray and yellow" themed wedding decorations we would be bringing into the apartment. well, while we were off to our honeymoon, my parents lovingly set our presents in the living room on top of the table and because the top coat was still not dry, when we were opening the presents a week later, a little of the wrapping paper stayed on the table. sad, yet funny. i know. :) so, you can see the sentimental value this table has. we HAD to keep it. even though it was kinda hideous. but, a few pictures later to remember the memories, and dictionary in hand. we decided it was time to fix this baby up. :)

Step 1: sand thoroughly to rough up the surface so the paper will stick, and to give it an antiqued look that matches the old papers.

Step 2: clean table

Step 3: apply mod podge to the entire area you will be putting the paper. I would suggest starting in one corner and working your way to the opposite corner. don't just randomly lay them. overlap one by one.

Step 4: place your paper and smooth out all air bubbles. -don't lay them all facing one direction, have some facing north, east, south and west or somewhere in between the entire time-

Step 5: put mod podge immediately over top of the paper and repeat. don't apply the mod podge in perfect lines. roughly doing curved lines makes the details of the finish really interesting once it dries, but don't do it too heavy. if it is still white-ish on top of the papers after about 5 minutes, your applying it too thick and try to wipe some of it off.

this is once the papers were all placed and we could no longer see the black table top.

 we let it dry and cut the edges with a razor and ruler. 

final step: apply mod podge to the edges to seal the freshly cut edges down and to create a clean look.

now all that's left to do is decorate and be so proud of your new creation: a conversation starter, the centerpiece of a room, and your scrabble best friend.

some helpful tips:
-divide the dictionary up into smaller sections from the beginning, it makes it easier to tear cleanly, and that way your entire table isn't from the letter a.
-pick pages that have sentimental value for you and your family. or maybe just try and get one page from each letter of the alphabet. This table can be a great teaching tool/source of inspiration to you and your kids in the future, make sure there are a great slew of words help you teach/inspire
-don't stress about the way it looks halfway through, it will look weird or look like all the pages are facing one direction. I promise, just finish and those things you noticed halfway through will disappear. promise.

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