Of Found Objects and Fossils - A New Project Begins

This is the start of my latest project. Two things I should state at the onset: Only part of the stuff used for this ambitious effort will be from recycled materials ... and this might take all summer. The time frame is okay, though, because in the desert here, it's way too hot to do much outside fun.

I bought the table sans top from a charity sale where neighbors from across town were hosting garage sales to help raise money for a friend who needed medical attention. Ordinarily I would have paid about five bucks for this but it came with a coffee table (my next project -- maybe), also without its glass top, and it seemed like an okay deal to pay $25 for the pair. (After I paid for them one of the women said she was about to put them out for trash collection.) I knew what I wanted to do with the coffee table and I saw the end table (this one) version as a good starting point. Practice does make perfect, doesn't it? (She said with fingers crossed.)

I also had to pay for the MDF at the local Home Depot. Not too much of that out there on curbs and thrift shops.

My brother lives and messes around the coal fields and he picks up these fossils. (This is a close up of the opening picture, showing the fossils a bit sharper.) They are all over the mountains near his house so he has a nice collection. He gave these to me because I told him I'd like to use them in a mosaic. So the fossils are recycled, sort of.

About half the glass and tiles I plan to use come from garage sales and thrift shops. (It's amazing what you can find in these places. I found a big brick of Sculpy for 50-cents last week.) Some of it is left over from my first mosaic project and a bit came from ebay.

I'm not sure how this is going to work out since my education in mosaic work is pretty much grade school level. (I believe I'll have to use something other than glue to fasten these to the MDF). I think when it's all finished I might put some kind of acrylic coating over it. That should bring out some of the brilliance of the coal and make the table top level. Much nicer for setting glasses and cups on.

Wish me luck, gang. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.