We’re all in quarantine, and we all need a hobby. Some of us are baking banana bread or other delicious baked goods. Meanwhile, I am painting a beer pong table. We all have our different forms of fun!
Earlier this week I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom, contemplating how bored I was. My eyes wandered over to the plastic folding table that I had borrowed from my guy friends before the world changed. I looked at all the smeared sharpie signatures and nonsense written on the dirty, beer-stained plastic and inspiration struck.
I would paint the coolest, prettiest and trendiest beer pong table ever seen. Except I had one small problem. I didn’t own a beer pong table. So, I quickly texted the table’s owners and haggled them into handing it over for a good price, and it was all mine.
Painting this baby turned out to be harder than I thought. There’s a lot that has to go into prepping a plastic folding table before you can get to the really fun stuff. Luckily, I already figured it out for you!
Supplies Needed
- Plastic bowl
- Sponge
- Soap
- Washcloth
- Sandpaper
- Latex primer
- Measuring tape/ruler
- Painters tape
- Popsicle stick/paint stirrer
- Latex paint
- Large polyester paintbrush
- Pencil
- Various sized paintbrushes (for designs)
How To Do It
I found an excellent source on how to prep the table on HowStuffWorks!
- Wash down the plastic table very well with a sponge, to ensure there is no dust or grease on the surface. Grease and dust will not let the paint adhere to the surface.
- Wash off the soap with clean water and a clean sponge. The primer won’t stick if there’s a soap residue.
- Dry the plastic table well with a dry towel or rag.
- Sand down the table with sandpaper to remove the shine. Make sure there is no shine on the entire surface. Don’t rub too hard, as this can scratch the table.
- Apply the latex primer to the entire table with a polyester paintbrush. This will help the paint adhere to the surface. Let the primer dry overnight. (I was impatient and bought a fast-drying primer)
- Paint the table with the latex paint and another polyester brush. If you can, choose a dry hot day to paint, as the paint will dry quicker and adhere better!
Once you’ve done all this you can start having fun with designing!
I chose this geometric design so I could paint a bunch of different fun things in each triangle. Pinterest is a gold mine for fun patterns and ideas, which is where I got a lot of my inspiration. First, I laid down the painter’s tape on my clean, primed and shiny white table before painting in each triangle with different colored paint. This took me forever because I couldn’t figure out what aesthetic I wanted!
Once you paint in each base layer, go crazy with your designs! Make it personal. There’s so much you could do ranging from funny puns, your favorite drinks, your favorite album covers, etc! However, don’t get too caught up in making it perfect, take your time and enjoy putting paint to plastic and let yourself get lost in the art. After all, you have all the time in the world right now!
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