OCCASIONAL TABLE TUTORAL - How to make a 1 inch scale occasional table with mat board.

This is the picture of the table that inspired me to write this tutorial.

I know this table is available in miniature for very little money.  So, you might say . . . . "Why would I want to make one?"
Well, I would say . . .  "Because I don't want to send off for one and wait for it, plus pay shipping."  I don't know about you all, but I am always trying to find ways to save money when it comes to my hobby.  I like to do more with less.

You can make one of these tables in a day from mat board and finish it the way you want.  It's a good all around table that can be used for a night stand or end table.  You can change the size and height and make it a coffee table.

I have taken a picture of the table before I put the finish on it with the Shabby Chic Bed, that's in the index on the left side of the blog.

Here's a close up.  I plan to paint the table vintage green then winter white and sand down to the green for a shabby chic look.

My husband suggested to use the "Marble Topped Wine Rack" (Feb. 19, 2011) for the tutorial on marbling the top.  You can use the tutorial "How to make 2 fancy faux finishes" ( Feb. 15, 2010) for painting the bottom gold.  My friend, Mary, said she would like the bottom painted black with the marble top.  So many more ways to finish this table . . . . 

Here are the pattern pieces.  Copy these into a program that you can adjust sizes in.  I have a 1 inch square in the corner for you.  One inch is equal to 2.5 cm. 
I would copy them onto card stock so you can trace with them.  I would suggest you copy them onto copy paper and use a glue stick to glue the paper to the mat board, but the paper would add thickness to the finished pieces, so please don't do that.

I have my pieces cut out.

Let's start with the leg.

Keep your pencil sharp.  The sharper the point on your pencil the closer you'll be to the size of the pattern.

"OMG!  Look at how many legs she wants me to cut out!"


Yes, trace your pattern onto mat board 12 times.  There are 3 pieces for each leg.

Put a new blade in your craft knife.

When you cut, cut ON your traced line.

Press lightly on your first cut.

Go Slowly, don't press hard.  Pressing hard will tire your hands, may make you make a mistake or the knife may slip and you could cut yourself.  Take care.  You don't have to do this in one sitting, you know.

Here are all the legs cut out. 

Here's my glue.  It's yellow carpenter's glue or wood glue.

Apply the glue to one of the leg shapes, SMEAR the glue before you press the other leg onto it.  Press the shapes together with some force, don't go crazy, but make sure the shapes are sealed together.

Glue three leg shapes together for each leg.  Try to keep the front of the legs even.

All the my legs are glued together.

Trace the apron 5 times onto mat board.

Cut out the aprons and cut out the notches where the legs are glued into.

I've got all of the aprons cut out.

Glue the aprons together and press them together as you did with the legs.

Use at least 220 sand paper and sand the legs and the apron to even up the edges.  Try not to change the shape just even up the edges.
We are going to veneer the edges with card stock.

Test the notch on the leg to see if one layer of mat board with fit in it.

If not, carefully cut out a little more from the top of the notch.

Measure the thickness of your leg.

Cut some card stock strips the width of your legs.

Using the wood glue, glue the card stock onto the face of the leg and trim off at the bottom.

Glue card stock onto the back of the leg. 

Notice I haven't gluee any card stock at the top of the leg where it fits into the apron and no card stock is glued into the notch.

O.K.,  I got so excited that this was working out so well that I forgot to sand the edges of my legs.  I had to sand them after I had the table glued together.  I don't want you to do that.  When the card stock is dry use some 220 grit or finer to sand the edges of the legs.  Just soften the edges, don't round them off.  Be careful and support the legs while you are sanding them.

After you have the legs sanded I want you to dry fit them into the notches in the apron.  If you have to adjust the the size of the notches do so now.  Use sand paper to enlarge them, I wouldn't use the craft knife, there is a chance you could make the notch too big.

Trace the shelf pattern onto mat board and cut it out.

Things are coming together, now.

Here are your legs and shelf ready to be glued together.

Using the wood glue, glue the legs onto the shelf at the corners.

Let this dry.

Since you have all ready done a dry fit with the legs in the notches this next step should work out well.

Apply the wood glue to the notches and with the apron on your table press the leg assembly into the notches.  Make sure the legs are flat with the table top and pushed all the way into the notch.

My goodness, it looks like I was drunk when I cut out the apron layers!!

Anyway, so far, so good, huh?

Trace the table top pattern #1 onto mat board.

Cut it out.

Trace the table top pattern #2 onto mat board.

Cut it out.

We are making an "ogee" edge. 

This is not the real way, the real way is to use a thicker piece of wood and use a router or send the wood through a machine called a shaper that will cut a decorative edge.

I want you to round the edge of the two oval table tops you've just cut out.  Can you see how I've sanded the top edge off and left the bottom untouched.  Try not to change the shape while sanding.

Center the smaller oval onto the larger one and glue them together.

Now, we are going to glue the card stock veneer onto the apron.

Measure the thickness of the apron.

Cut a piece of card stock that width.

Apply the wood glue to the sides of the apron between the legs and glue the card stock to the apron.  Trim off the card stock between the legs.

Go around the apron gluing on 3 more strips of card stock covering the layers of mat board. 

And boy, did I need to do that!!

Apply the wood glue to the top of the apron, SMEAR the glue out and around the top.

Turn the table top over, largest side up, (NOT like I have it in the picture) turn your table up side down and center the apron onto the top and press to glue.  Check all around to make sure you have the top centered.

I'll post a picture when I get my table done.








A NOTE TO THOSE WITH A SCROLL SAW:  This table has been made just as you would a wooden table.  All that changes is that you would use the right thickness for the legs and apron and not do the stacking and gluing.


I am surprised myself by the way this table feels in my hands, it has heft and doesn't feel any different than a wooden one.  So, miniaturists make this table and finish it using your imagination!  This table can go anywhere in just about any era.


Getting back to my point at the beginning of the blog . . . After I tell people what I do and that I make this all from paper, card stock and mat board they will ask, "Why go to all that trouble using mat board?  Why don't you use wood, I would want my furniture from wood."  If my friend Mary is with me she tells them, "You can't tell the difference!"  She's a good friend.  And I would add, not everybody has the tools and wood to work with.  Wood and tools can be intimidating.  This is just mat board, mistakes can be made without losing much.  There is always time to go on to bigger things, but I don't know if they would be better things.  When you can make things like this with little investment, why stop?

As always,

Have Fun, Make It Better, Expand On It . . . . .

JUST KEEP MAKING MINIS!!!!

Use, link, refer . . . . .

Yes, please feel free to use the tutorials for club projects, please link me, and you can refer to the blog as much as you want.

TTYL   Kris

1 INCH SCALE WHITE ENAMEL WARE EWER How to make a white enamel ware ewer/pitcher from card stock.

This is the picture that inspired me to make this month's tutorial.  I love enamel ware.

This is my finished ewer/pitcher.  I am calling it a ewer because it's bigger than a pitcher.  I used some left over daisies I had from the "Floral Arrangement" tutorial.

This is Frank the fish.  A left over boy friend gift that my youngest daughter left.  He is spending time on my yellow table watching me.  I don't have central A/C and the kitchen is very hot and I didn't want him to maybe die.  I keep my work room/breezeway cooler than the kitchen, it's more important!

Enough of the small talk, on with the small stuff!!

We are going to make a bowl like in the paper pottery tutorial.  If you have 1/8" quilling paper use it.  If you don't cut from copy/computer paper 7 or 8   1/8" strips.

You will need a quilling tool.  If you don't have one you can make one from a large eyed needle.  Using wire cutters, cut off the top of a large eyed needle.  Push the needle into a dowel.

This is the needle stuck onto the dowel.

Use yellow carpenter's glue to the strips together.  Over lap about an 1/8".  I glued 7 of the copy/computer paper strips together.  If you are using quilling paper that will be different because the paper is sometimes heavier and longer.  It is better to have glued too many strips and be able to snip off the extra, though.

To start the roll insert the tip of the strip into the slot of the needle.

Start to roll, try to keep the roll tight.  A tight roll makes pushing the bowl out easier.

Roll until you can fit the roll into the 19/32" hole in the circle template.

Glue the end of the paper to the roll.

I want you to try to roll one that fits the 5/8" hole, too.  I will refer to this later.

Push out the bowl.  I work this over my thumb with my fingers.  Work it until you get a shape you like.

This bowl shape will determine the finished height and character of the ewer.

I've had some questions about the yellow carpenter's glue.  I have Titebond right now.  I also use Elmer's yellow carpenter's glue.  I find this at a big box store like Home Depot or a lumber yard.  It will be in the paint and stain department.

Fill your little bowl with the yellow carpenter's glue.

Don't skimp on the glue.  Roll the bowl around, make sure the glue gets every where.

You can see I've filled my bowls with glue.

I let the glue set a bit and wipe the glue around some more to be sure the top part gets its share of glue.

I've made a few.

I want these to dry, dry hard.  Leave these a few hours or over night.

We are going to sand them and I want them to be able to take that without becoming misshaped.

I have used 220 grit sand paper to sand the surface of the bowl.

I think the 220 grit leaves the surface smoother than if you would use a courser grit.

This is the pattern for the rest of the ewer.  Copy this into a program that you can change sizes with.  I have a 1 inch square to measure, when you print out a 1 inch square you have the size right.  I would also copy and paste several onto one sheet of card stock.  Then all you have to do is cut out, not trace.

Cut the body out and run it over the edge of your table to get it to curve.

Glue the body together, we are using the yellow carpenter's glue.

Glue to the line.

Apply glue to the bowl.

Set the body onto the bowl.
Set this assembly up at eye level to check if it sets straight and level.

Let this dry.

O.K., I am now referring to the 5/8" bowl I asked you make earlier.  You see  how the body is hanging over the edge?  This is fine, but for more width you might want to try using the 5/8" bowl.  This is something you can play with.

Really make sure the assembly is dry before you start to sand.

Sand the seam.  See how I have almost sanded all the extra card stock off?

Cut out the foot and bend it over a pencil to get it to curve.

Glue the ends together.

Glue the foot to the bottom of the bowl.
Set this assembly at eye level again to see if you are keeping the ewer straight and level.

I've added more glue to the bottom of the foot.

Cut the spout/lip out and bend it around a pencil to curve it.

This is the spout/lip ready to be glued together.

Glue the spout/lip together.

Glue the spout/lip onto the top of the body.
Let this dry a bit.

From card stock cut a strip 3/16" wide for a handle.

Cut this strip 1-1/4" long.

If your spout/lip is dry make a mark directly across from the spout, do you see my mark?  This helps when gluing the handle on.
Glue the handle to the under side of the spout/lip.

Bend the handle over a pencil to shape it.

Glue the bottom of the handle to the body of the ewer, at the seam.

I applied the yellow carpenter's glue to both sides of the handle to stiffen it up a bit.



 
I would also apply a coat of acrylic varnish to seal the surface and cover the sanded paper.  When the paper has that rough finish it's hard to cover with paint.  Let this first coat of varnish dry and apply another.  You can sand this last coat a little.

At this point it's up to you how you want to finish the ewer.  I painted mine white and used button hole thread, (I didn't have black, so I had to paint some, that's why I have black fingers!) for the rolled edges.  I don't know about the size of the button hole thread.  It seems a bit large, but I tried regular sewing thread and it seemed too small.  I glued the thread to each edge of the handle, to the edge of the spout/lip, to the bottom edge of the foot and at the seam of the body and bowl.
You could finish the ewer with a blue granite ware finish by painting the ewer dark blue and spattering with white paint.  I would still use thread for the rolled finished.
This piece would also look nice painted like ceramic or pottery.  You can make your own decals by applying clear nail polish to the front of the magazine picture you want.  Let this dry.  Soak the picture and carefully and slowly rub the back of the picture, the paper, off.  Glue your decal onto the ewer.
My mom had an old, old pot.  It was copper and brass, it looked like it could have been in a castle.  It had a bowl at the bottom like this piece, it was copper.  The rest of the pot was brass.  You could do that and put it in your castle.
Of course, you can mess it up, age it, or dent it to give it character!!

I put some florist's foam into the ewer to hold my stems.  I used some left over daisies from the "Floral Arrangement" tutorial.  See, I told you making more flowers than you need comes in handy!

There we are, a nice pot of flowers.












I hope you try this out and make all kinds of different  finishes on them.  Try making them a little smaller by changing the size, make the 1 inch square smaller than 1 inch.

Have fun, Expand on it, Make it Better,

Just keep making minis!!!!!

P.S.  Yes, please use any of the tutorials for club projects, and link, link and link.

Stove and Refrigerator

Marisa,
This would be a good tutorial.  I can not do it right now.  I wrote those instructions a long time ago.  I had to write them because I didn't have a camera at that time.  Those pieces were all ready built, to write a tutorial about them would mean I would have to build the pieces again to take step by step pictures.
 I was still finding myself in the blog world and didn't know what I wanted to do with this blog.  I wrote instructions on a few things in the boxes I had built to see if I would get any interest.
I will keep it in mind.
TTYL  Kris

TO SHARON S. AND IAN

To Sharon, yes, when I write yellow carpenter's glue I mean wood glue.  Although, there are different kinds of glue for wood, like Gorilla Glue, I don't use that.  And, yes, you can substitute white glue.  I use the yellow carpenter's/wood glue because it sets faster than the white glue, has a quicker grab.
For Hydrangeas, I would use a larger hole punch, the flowers on hydrangeas are a little bigger, I think.  But, the whole process would be the same.

To Ian, go to the bottom of the page and click "older posts" and the other 6 tutorials will come up.  That tutorial is January 18, 2012, so you can also find it that way.

Hey, thanks to everyone for sending me a complement!!!!!  Just keeps me going and going and going . . . . . . .   TTYL  Kris