The Poetry Table, Stage 1

Last Saturday, I realized that in 48 hours, I would be hosting the first meeting of my new poetry critique group, and that I really needed to have some kind of coffee table in the living room.

Target didn't have anything I liked in a price I wanted to pay. Goodwill didn't have anything I liked. So although I'm not a big fan of the Salvation Army, I went there in desperation and found a table in the size and shape I wanted for a whopping $20. One of the shelves was broken and the cheap black paint was peeling, but I figured I could throw a tablecloth over it and nobody at poetry group would be the wiser. Problem solved!

But then I began thinking about all the ways I could take this table and make it pretty. And I settled on a poetry table. This is going to be a bit of a slow process, but here is what I've done so far:

First, I started stripping the paint. Unfortunately, the previous owners used latex paint, which is kind of a pain in the ass to remove. I've found that a razor blade is working pretty well. It's resulted in a few nicks in the wood, but those won't matter in the end. I hope to finish this phase of the project by the end of the month, so I can have the table completed before a big party I'm having in mid-March. Here's the table, partially stripped:

I plan to cover the table in poetry. Here are some of the poems I've cut out or printed off my computer that I plan on shellacking to the table once the paint is all gone.

And here is last year's Texas Poetry Calendar, which I am using as source material. I'm so glad I can do something with this used-up planner and it doesn't have to go to waste!