Inspired by Epbot's penny desk and the fact that pennies in my country are going the way of the one and two dollar bills, I decided to make my own penny mosaic. I just happened to have an old end table that was in dire need of a little attention and a piggy bank full of pennies that I had put off rolling for over a year.
I am glad I chose to do this project without the kids around. Every step was rather time-consuming, but I am really, really happy with the end result. I followed Epbot's instructions (posted above), but I started at the center of my table and worked outward. I polished my pennies before pouring the epoxy on as they became very tarnished as I handled them during the gluing process. I laid my pennies out in a random fashion, trying not to pool the different colours too much, except for one spot where I clustered six pennies, one with the birth years of everyone in my family plus one for our wedding anniversary. There are mostly Canadian pennies, a bunch of American pennies, and three 20-cent Euros. The years of the pennies range from the 1940s till now.
The edges are a bit wonky where the epoxy dripped off a couple of sharp penny edges, but the table is in a low-traffic area so I am choosing to believe the wonkiness adds character.
OK. You came for the pictures, didn't you?
Before/During...
After!
Products I used: Martha Stewart acrylic craft paint in Satin Black as a base for the pennies, 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue for gluing the pennies down, and Varathane Bar and Table Finish to finish the top.
August Photo a Day keywords: Somewhere you sat. The table is resting beside my living room sofa.
