I have my little great-niece coming over to my house on a regular basis.  She always gets so excited when I make her new projects and I knew she was going to love this one.

I was given an old table about a year ago but the veneer was damaged and the drawer was missing. So felt painting it was my only option. After racking my brain as to what I could make with the table this was the outcome.

How to Make a Craft table

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The table at one stage had a drawer in it but the drawer did not come with the table, so the box gave me the idea to make a table with storage. I removed the tabletop which I will reuse later.  If your table is all wobbly, now is a good time to glue it all back together again.

Add partitions

To box the table in I measured the length of the table and cut a piece of plywood to fill in the gap.  I glued the plywood and used a nail gun to secure it in.  Next, I cut some partitions so the table would be divided into different craft areas.  I remove all the corners off the table with a wood router to make it more child-friendly.

How to make the tabletop

To cut the tabletop I measured the length and width of the table and cut the top using a circular saw.  And then I realize that I did not leave any overhang on the top. Oops… To fix this I cut two pieces from the offcuts and glued it back on the sides and used ratchet straps to hold them in place and added a few screws for extra measure.

I cut the table legs down to 53cm using a  Circular Saw so it would be the right height for a toddler.  I chiselled out a section for the brass hinges and used a hinge drill bit to make my holes to attach the hinges.

Adding extra storage on the side

My table was not as deep as I would have liked.   I wanted all the craft supplies to be able to stand up straight.  So I added a little box to one side of the table.  The box was made from the scraps from the tabletop and I used a pocket hole jig to make holes and used pocket hole screws to attach them all together.  I used some scrap thin MDF to make a base for the box. And to make the table more child-friendly I routered all the corners off with my wood router.

Add extra craft accessories

Next, I wanted to add some extra features to the table.  I added a whiteboard that slotted into the lid. To make the holder you can cut slots into the wood and slide the whiteboard into the slots. 

I removed the frame from the whiteboard and on the reverse of the whiteboard, I will add a lego base plate.  Your toddler can have the chose of both.

Painting the craft table

I sanded down the table with an orbital sander ready for painting.  I am all for the easy way to do things so I painted the table first using Annie Sloan chalk paint and Unicorn SPiT Gel Stain & Glaze for the red then I put it all together.

Once all my paint was dry and I added 3 coats of water-based polyurethane to make the table more durable.  I glue and used a nail gun to nail it all together again.  I clamped the box to the table and screwed in the pocket screws.

Then I decided to go over the top and add a roll of kraft paper roll which runs across the table for the toddler to draw on.  I ordered the wrong size the wider one will work better. The paper roll was fitted to the table using curtain brackets.

And used a scrap of aluminium to hold the paper down.  I bought some cute flower pots to hold the craft supplies in the side box.

You cant have a craft table without a bench to sit on so I made a cute zebra bench to go with the table.

I repurposed an old bench into a unique sandpit desk which was a big hit if you are looking for your next project.

And TA-Da my creation was complete. 

 

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