Little Tikes Picnic Table Makeover 4 Years Later

May 21, 2019 by Ruthie Leave a Comment

First off, I can’t believe that it has been 4 years since I’ve r edone an old Little Tikes table. I was looking over the old post and my almost 6 year old looked so tiny and little in the pictures.

Throughout the past 4 years, I have had a lot of questions on how the paint has held up. It honestly has held up really well….until we got lazy and didn’t store it inside during the winter. The past 2 years it stayed out in record low cold weather and inches and inches of snow!

It had minor scratches and a few paint chips from outdoor use and wear but the snow and cold really gave it a run for its money. If you don’t know what it looked like when we got it…here you go!

And here is what it looked like before it’s second transformation.

It didn’t look nearly as bad as when I got it but it was definitely not looking great. It was time to redo it or toss it! My youngest daughter is 2 so it’s still the perfect size for her to use. I would say she has a summer or two left to get some great use out of it!

I wanted to test out a different process of painting this time so I grabbed a couple of my favorite DIY tools. I grab my HomeRight Medium Spray Shelter and Super Finish Max Paint Sprayer.

The last time I redid this I only used Spray Paint. I’m kind of obsessed with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer as it adheres to basically any surface. You also don’t have to sand to use it!

I thought that the combination of the paint sprayer and Zinsser primer would the perfect combination. I’m excited to see how it holds up compared to just the spray paint route.

I gave the table a very light sand to begin. The only reason I did this was to remove any chipped paint. Otherwise, it’s not necessary with this primer.

I painted all the areas of the picnic table and flipped it around while I did it. I was able to get it all painted in one session.

I strategically painted it so that one area was always unpainted so it could rest on that spot while I painted another area.

Once it was completed, I gave it a few hours to dry. Next step was to paint it with a gloss pink spray paint. Make sure that your spray paint is for use on the material you are painting. In my case, plastic.

I ended up painting this side in two sessions. It was harder to get to a few areas with the spray paint than it was with the paint sprayer.

I painted the top of the table one evening and then the next day turned it around and painted the bottom.

After the pink was completely dry I wanted to add a little detail to it. I was kind of freaking out because it looked like a giant Pepto-Bismol table! I was starting to regret my decision of using pink.

Thankfully, my Cricut Maker came to the rescue! I looked through Design Space and found this adorable triangle pattern.

I sized it to the top of the picnic table and set it to cut on my Cricut Maker. I used Permanent Premium Vinyl for this project. It is what I had on hand at the moment.

If I were a little more patient, which I’m not, I would have probably ordered Outdoor Vinyl through Cricut. I had a plan though.

I wanted the pattern to match on the seats so I did a little cut and paste on Cricut Design Space with the slice tool. I also didn’t want to have to cut more than necessary. I hate to waste vinyl!

I added the vinyl to the picnic table and it was such a fun addition to the bright pink. It’s fun that’s for sure! The triangles help tone down the Pepto-Bismal look! Ha!

I wanted to give the table one last touch of protection. I covered the table with Outdoor Modge Podge. I thought this would be a good way to seal the tops of the table. Also to make sure that the vinyl wouldn’t peel off.

My girls are excited to use their “new” bright pink picnic table this summer. We love to BBQ and try to spend as much time as we can outside!

I feel like my daughter should dress up like Pebbles from The Flinstones and sit at this table. I didn’t do this on purpose but it looks like it came right out of the TV show! Ha!

She’s such a ham and I’m looking forward to the memories to come with this makeover! Does anyone want to have a BBQ this weekend?! Plus how can you resist those eyes?!