Some people use chalk paint

Dear Mom,

I've tried, but I just don't get good results with Chalk Paint. I say this to explain/defend my latest Adventure in Decoupage.

When My Hero and I got married we inherited a lonely, rather ugly, brown wood end table from his parents. I am sure they were very happy to Hand It Down, and, it being the only end table we had, we were very grateful to receive it. It was put to good use for many years and before it's retirement to the attic, it had been painted with exterior paint decorated with flowers and put to use on the screened porch.
I hadn't realized until now, that furniture is a part of the Circle of Life. Our Young Man is moving into and apartment for his Senior yes. I said Senior. Year Sunrise, Sunset. Swiftly fly the years.  and we've excavated old lamps and That Table from the attic. And like his dad and I, he is happy to have any old end table.
The years in the attic were not kind to the unfortunate end table.
It came out with the veneer peeling off in some spots and one whole side needed to be reinforced with some extra strength wood glue.

We peeled off the loose veneer and sanded the exposed wood.

Since the Young Man is following in his dad's footsteps, majoring in Accounting and Finance, I thought it would be fun to decoupage the table with pages from accounting text books. When I suggested we go to Half Price Books to look, My Hero offered up some of his old college textbooks.  As we looked through his books we found some pages of notes he had taken and even some Mimeograph pages! What memories those mimeographed sheets brought back. I had to include those in the table.

Everything was sealed onto the table (providing additional structural support!) with several coats of Furniture Mod Podge. I used black chalkboard paint on the legs.

So, the odd little table has a new incarnation as a funky bedside table.

We'll get him moved in to the new digs in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see what other treasures his room mates will contribute to the decor!

Love,
Kim