Lady Fingers at it again...Patio Table

A friend of mine at work inspired me to try this project.  (Thanks Katherine!).  I've been thinking about this for awhile, but Saturday morning I just decided I was going to do it.  I've had this old patio table for years and we just never use it.  I did a little 'Google' research and got my ideas on how to start this project.

 

We had a 4x8 piece of plywood that was taking space in the garage, so I laid the table on top of it upside down, drew an outline of the table on to the plywood, and then cut it out with my jigsaw. (yes I have my own jigsaw!)

I went to Goodwill (of course) and Angel's Attic (another thrift store) and found 7 plates for $4, and then went to Lowe's to get the tile supplies.  See the little bird?  It was a wind chime that had broken, so I figured it would make a great center for the table.

Here's the fun part.  I put all the tiles and plates (except for the two dark blue plates, I
couldn't bear to smash them up) inside a pillow case, and then smashed
them to smithereens on the flagstone sidewalk. I just held the
pillowcase over my head and let it drop.  Wow!  What a sound! I had to repeat this step several times to get it broken in to smaller pieces.

Next, I laid the tiles out so I could get an idea of the pattern I wanted to create.  

This part was messy, but fun too.  I laid out the 'placemat' part of the table first, and then the 'coasters' next, and put my little bird in the center.  My directions said to lay the design pieces first, or else work from the center out to the edge. I wasn't sure how I was going to finish the edging, but remembered I had some river rock pebbles left over from filling a vase for flowers. They made a perfect edge.

This part had to dry overnight.

I really, REALLY wanted a bluish grout to fill in between the tiles, but both Lowe's and Home Depot said blue grout would be a special order item.  Well, for most people,,, but not for me.  I pondered this for about 5 minutes, and then came up with my own idea.  I bought a 10 lb bag of pure white grout and then went to the paint department and had the paint guy mix me a quart of blue water-based stain.  I mixed one cup of the stain and 5 cups of water with the grout and came up with  my very own custom color.

 


This was a messy part of the project, but by now, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The grout consistency was probably a little different because I added the stain, but it worked just fine.  I'm glad I took a chance on it.

Even though the grout was not completely dry, I had to see how it would look accessorized.  The weather is so perfect now for dining outside.  I can't wait to use it.

 

I have another little table at our lake house that I'd like to try this project on.  I learned from this time, that I will get dishes that have more vivid colors.  The plates I used for this project had a lot of white in them and not much color.  Live and learn, I always say.  This was a very simple project and only took 2 days to complete.  So fun!

I really love hearing from you guys so please leave your comments on this site instead of the Facebook page.  If you have a project you're working on, please share.  I'm always looking for new ideas.