Grass Stained (to Be) Thrift Store Jackpot Find.

Sandra L Warren
by Sandra L Warren
4 Materials
$9
1 Day
Easy

I found this amazing little quality drop leaf table at my local thrift store and when I saw the price I was floored! I bet you will be too! This solid little piece needed a bit of tlc but what a jackpot!

Before

This baby is solid wood and solid as a rock and believe it or not there were two identical ones and now I wish I had gotten them both.

That's right this sweet find was $8.99 SCORE!

I sanded the top with 180 grit then 220 grit then steel wool to remove the scuffs, scratches and marks in the top. Luckily the base only had a couple of small dings so I didn't have to thoroughly sand all the spindles, just a good steel wool scuffing did the job.

I had these stencils on hand so I decided to do a large mandala stencil on the top and small mandala stencils on each of the drop leaf sides. I used basic white acrylic craft paint and let it dry.

After steel wooling the base and thoroughly cleaning off the dirt and dust with a damp cloth I used the stain I had on hand and stained the entire base and all edges.

The stain took even better than I thought it would.

After letting the stain dry thoroughly I used a rustoleum lacquer spray that I had on hand from other projects to give a nice gloss and seal the stained base.

I decided to experiment with natural grass/plants to create a stain so here we go...crossing my fingers this will work! I added a touch of water and blended the grasses into a thick watery paste.

This is the paste, now lets see if it works like I imagine it will.

I ended up pouring my grass stain right on the table top and spreading it around and rubbing it in. Here is the result, not quite as dark as I thought but not too bad.

After letting it dry thoroughly I used the lacquer to seal my grass stained top also give it a nice shine.

VOILA!!!

Grass stain=Success!

Guess I will be trying other plants/colors to make natural stains.

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  3 questions
  • Veronica Veronica on Sep 29, 2019

    I will definitely be trying this technique. Would have never considered it so thank you for sharing! Btw...I love the rolling hills picture you have on the table. Did you buy that somewhere or take that yourself?

  • Martha Clausen Martha Clausen on Sep 29, 2019

    Your table is wonderful—I would not have even thought of grass for a wood stain. I wonder what dandelion flowers would do??

  • Lovesunique Lovesunique on Oct 08, 2019

    Were there any stamps or marks as to who built the table. It sure is solid looking. Glad you saved it and used a unique technique on it.

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