Photograph, Christ or "Brag table"

Yesterday, when I was taking a picture of my Gratitude Frame, my children had friends over. I overhead one of them commenting to my daughter that they liked our coffee table. I thought after her comment that I would blog about the table and show how I made it.

You can do this on the top of any table, dresser, counter, or even put it in a frame. I picked a color of paint that I used on one of the walls in my home. I turned the table upside down on newspaper to trace the size of wood I would need for the top. However, if you are doing this on a table such as your dinner table, you don't need to do any prep.

The top of my table isn't solid so I had to use wood. You could also just add a thin layer of wood to paint if you had a nice finish to your dresser and didn't want to change that but wanted to add some color to your room. Get a thin piece of wood from the hardware store and trace the size needed for the top you are making. Then, paint it the color you want. I went with the darker color from the walls rather than the lighter as I wanted the pictures to "pop" when you looked at them. I also added texture by removing some of the paint while it was still wet using an old t-shirt cut into pieces. I crumbled it up in my hand and just dabbed it on the wet paint removing some of the paint leaving a texture behind.

Next, plan the photos you want to use. If the item you are doing is a dresser you inherited from grandma, then pictures from Grandma's life may be just the thing to put on the top.

I used pictures of Christ that I had collected over the years and tried to put them in order from birth on. In a baby's room, you could use pictures of each of your children and parents as babies.

You could go to the park and give everyone a camera and have them take pictures once a season and then change the pictures out each season. The ideas go on and on. This would be a great way for you to display your children's artwork from school. It is on the coffee table where all who enter to visit will get to see and comment on your little artists work!

Once you have the pictures in the order you want them, lay them on the top. You can also add quotes or a sampler that you enjoy. This last part is also something you can decide depending on what works for you. Over the years I have used three main ways of covering them.

The first is permanent. If you want to put something down that is going to stay, Modge Podge is a wonderful way to make it permanent and this way the pictures won't move. I would use this method if I was making a mosaic or some other work that takes a lot of time to create.

The second way, is something I still use for several tables and desk tops in my home. I buy the thickest clear plastic covering they sell at Wal-Mart or another hardware/craft or Home Decor store such as JoAnnes and make sure I buy enough for the item I wish to cover. If the table has a sharp corner or edge, I lay the plastic directly on top starting at one edge. I take scissors and start cutting as close to the actual edge of the table as I can. If the scissors are sharp enough, you don't have to do anything but glide them along similar to how you cut wrapping paper.

The third way and the way I used for my coffee table knowing that people may put up their feet, was to get glass cut to fit. If you choose the thin wood top, you can actually take that to the glass shop and have them use that as a pattern for cutting the glass. I think I laid the wood on a roll of paper and traced it so that they could get the rounded corners right. If it is a square top such as a dresser, you can just measure it and give them that and they will be able to cut you a top.

Wouldn't this be a fun way to show off all your grandchildren without having different frames on the wall and have to match mats and frames and finding new spots for each new addition? Just put them all over the top of your dining room table and change out the plastic when you add a new addition or need to update the photos!

Happy Decorating!