Pennies For My Table
Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 5:00AM My son informs me that I have committed a federal crime. I don't expect to be prosecuted, though now that I am bragging about it on the web, who knows?
This is my crime:
I had an old outdoor table with a glass top. I painted the frame to match my patio furniture, then decided to cover the glass part with pennies. I used outdoor super glue to attach about five hundred old and new pennies to the table top. Then I grouted the top, using premixed grout designed for bathroom shower stalls. I let that dry for a couple of days, then put on a grout sealer. It was a simple weekend project, although it was a bit tedious. I like the results! What do you think?
However, thanks to my son, I have since learned that defacing money so that it may no longer be used as currency is illegal! The government wastes about 500 times as much money as I did every nano-second, so I'm not too worried. But if I'm wrong and I end up in the penitentiary, at least I finally will have enough time for blogging.
patio furniture, penny table in patio garden
Reader Comments (33)
What a beautiful crime! That came out really nice, and it sounded easy. I have seen copper penny countertops and walls featured in published decorating magazines, so I think you are safe from prosecution.
I love your table !!!!
Actually I think you may have discovered a much better use for those pennies. It certainly increases their value!
Wow! You did a great job. I love it, crime or no crime! Christina
Wow! I love this and I think I'd like to do this myself! Great work.
Fabulous! You may have to change your blog name to Deb's Criminal Garden!
Lovely job, I think you'll have everyone copying your idea!
Great idea and since they are supposed to one day get rid of the penny you will be ahead of everyone in figuring what to do with them.
It's a beauty and if you go to the slammer I'll come visit you!!!
I love it! How did you get the layout so uniform?
Hi everybody! Than you for stopping by and for your kind comments. I appreciate each of you very much. Fiddlewood, I started laying the pennies on the outer edge and did an entire circular row before going to the second row adjacent to it. Then a third row and so on. I laid the pennies out in each row before going back to glue them, so I could adjust the spacing as needed.
hahaha - Blogging Behind Bars can be your new blog's name! :) Seriously, though, I love the table. It is quite beautiful, and very creative of you. I love the way the copper shines in the sunlight!
Better chain it to the deck before it walks away...
Personally I think it's gorgeous! I also think it's time the penny should be retired from circulation, and what better way to do that, than this?!
I had no idea that was illegal! Guess we'll both be going to jail, because I've glued pennies to a bowling ball for my crime. LOVE the table idea too, that might be next for me. Thanks for the idea!
Deb - I don't think you'll become a jail bird if you believe this proverb:
"Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck.
Find a penny, leave it lay, and you'll have bad luck all the day."
You not only found a penny and picked it up, you turned it into something lovely!! I get the feeling you are about to win the lottery :)
Love the table!! And guilty here too, we used pennies as washers!
Love the table, and it's true you have certainly put them to good use and increased their value :) How did you know all those pennies would fit without leaving you with a nasty hole in the middle? It would take me ages to try it out I'm a bit fussy with these things, which is probably why I stay away from crafts. I tend to drive everyone nuts!
I have seen this project done with so many different materials, but this is the first time I saw it done with pennies. i love the idea and hope it is not any kind of federal crime. It is too cute for others not to copy.
It looks great, Deb. If only I'd collected one-cent pieces before they were taken out of circulation here!
I love the way your little DIY project turned out, even if you did commit a federal offence while doing it. I would never have thought to use pennies, but it is a great idea. Unlike some mosaics which can look a bit tacky, the copper colored pennies make for quite a sophisticated color scheme. Now, you have me thinking about all the pennies we have lying around the house gathering dust...
I admire your honesty for confessing on the world-wide web.
We can still buy penny sweets in the UK but that's about it.
Ha, too funny! Maybe they'll be lenient on you, since you so readily confessed!
I love the table!
Very cool! Just love it :-) Will they now patina and turn greenish?
LOVE IT!!! Pennies cost more to make than they are worth so if we ever get smart and quit minting them, your table might be worth more than the pennies its decorated with! I love how creative this is!!
Very cool table, Deb! I'd consider that money well spent, not defaced at all. In fact, it's now much prettier!
LOL. I guess crime does pay -- because that is a great looking table. Actually, I think the Feds should than you because you found an excellent use for a coin that no one seems to care about. If anything should happen, I'll mail you a cake with a file. :)
Wonderful idea and amazing patience! Consider that you are preserving a piece (or a few hundred pieces) of American history.
That really turned out well. You are very creative. I am sure you won't need the table in prison so I will email my address....
Deb, It looks wonderful. But when the woman who went out and hand-painted her stamped concrete to look like flagstones describes a job as tedious, that's a strong statement!!
I think it was worth the risk. Very decorative idea that works really well!
I simply love your table. Its such a creative idea and I feel that its worth the risk of ending in the penintentiary.
Martha Stewart, Move over! Great job. I love this project. Wonderful idea...