Decorative painter Phillip Myer uses contact paper and a pear motif template to stain a tabletop.
Materials:
unfinished table
stain
2 colors of paint
contact paper
scissors
burnisher or credit card
painter's brush
polyurethane
leaf and stem stamps (optional)
Steps:
- Stain the top of an unfinished table a golden color and let dry. The legs can be stained the same color or a darker color, such as green.
- Draw a pear shape on a piece of cardboard and use this as a template.
- Place pear template on a piece of contact paper and trace the outline. Next, cut out the pear, peel the backing off and place in different positions on the table. The table will require anywhere between 10 to 30 pears, depending on the size.
- Burnish or rub the pears with a burnishing tool or a credit card to secure it to the table.
- Next, stain the background of the table in a dark green. Brush over the surface with a rag or a painter's brush to create different affects or leave as is. Let dry.
- After table is dry, peel the pear-shaped contact paper off. Add detail to the pears by speckling the inside, adding a leaf and stem and outlining the pear with a dark color or light color for dimension. Let dry and apply between three to five coats of a water-based polyurethane. Let dry.
Resources Painting & Decorating Tables (Creative Finishes Series)
by Phillip C. Myer
Writers Digest Books, 1997
Order this title from Amazon.com.
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