Rainbow bird table

Create a fabulous new top for an old bird table with a little bit of help from Resene.

Create a fabulous new top for an old bird table

Weekend DIY with Mark Rayner - Project 19

Difficulty level: Moderate

You will need

Base of an old bird table (or a 900mm length of fence post)
Construction glue, paintbrush, pencil, sandpaper and string
Piece of treated plywood measuring 600mm x 600mm
Resene testpots in the following colours: Resene Fizz, Resene Gobstopper, Resene Kermit, Resene Orang-atan, Resene Rocket, Resene Splish Splash, Resene Surfs Up and Resene Snap (x2)
Resene Quick Dry

Top tip: Mark painted the base of the bird table with Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Black Forest.

How to paint a rainbow on a bird table

Step one
Apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry to the plywood panel and allow two hours to dry.

Step two
Using the string and pencil, draw a series of seven radiating semi-circular bands across the plywood panel, as shown.

Step three
Paint the ‘sky’, back and edges of the plywood panel with two coats of Resene Snap, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step four
Paint the first band with two coats of Resene Rocket, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step five
Paint the third band with two coats of Resene Fizz, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step six
Paint the fifth band with two coats of Resene Splish Splash and the seventh band with two coats of Resene Gobstopper. Allow two hours for each coat to dry.

Step seven
Paint the second band with two coats of Resene Orang-atan, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step eight
Paint the fourth band with two coats of Resene Kermit, and the sixth band with two coats of Resene Surfs Up. Allow two hours for each coat to dry. Fix the new tabletop onto the old bird table base (or length of fence post) with a generous amount of construction glue and allow to dry.

Other ideas: Create a rich gold bird table by painting with a basecoat of Resene Porsche, two topcoats of Resene Bullion and finish off with two coats of Resene Multishield+ gloss (now Resene Concrete Clear).

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