Train Table Make Over

A few months ago someone sweetly donated a train table to the toddler room at our church.  The table was in OK shape, but it did not have any trains.  So I decided that we should have some trains for the table and I wanted to glue down the tracks for the kids like they do at Barnes and Noble and some of the toy stores I’ve been to.  Since I was going to be changing things up by adding the trains I thought that the table could use a little sprucing up.  It was sturdy, but there were some cosmetic flaws- places where it had been drawn on in marker, scratched, dirty to be cleaned off and the like.

So I took it apart, cleaned it, and painted it.

My neighbor’s cat watched me most of the time.  It was only slightly creepy.

As for materials I used Krylon Fushion spray paints and Valspar Protective Clear Coat.

After I left the pieces of the table outside for a few days to air out the fumes I took them back to church and reassembled the table.  Then I out together the train set.  Once I had the trains placed where I wanted them I attached each piece to the table using Elmer’s wood glue.  The train set is this oneby Melissa & Doug.

If you are considering gluing down your train tracks to a wooden table, let me give you a little advice.  I laid out all the track first, then just picked up each piece and glued it down.  This was easy for the flat tracks.  For the raised portions of track it was a bit trickier to figure out where to glue the supports until I figured out that I could just slide the support block out (the track above managed to stay in place as long as I didn’t bump it too much) apply the glue, then slide back into place.

You’re probably smarter than I am and you already knew that.  But just in case you think like me, I thought I’d save you a little trial and error.

I’d say this project wasn’t too bad.  I did not have to spend too much time actually working on it.  Most of the time was spent waiting for coats of primer and paint to dry.  The train table make-over wasn’t crazy expensive either and skill-wise it did not require any special skills.  So if you come across an inexpensive but slightly beat-up train table at a garage sale this summer but it needs a little work, I say go for it!  Snatch that baby up.

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Cat

Cat is a teacher turned stay-at-home mom of two boys.  She shares crafts, DIY projects, kids’ activities, and a little bit about life in Ohio.  Learn more about her and the blog on the About page.