Cheap pool noodles can make an awesome tablescape! This coral reef, complete with crabs and sea anemones is easy and adorable for a kid’s party at home, for school, or VBS! Here’s ‘part 2’ of Cheap Pool Noodles Can Make an Awesome Tablescape. ◄ Click here for part 1.
Creating The Foam Base for The Tablescape
Decide how you want to stack the foam pieces. The top pieces of the foam base are 12 inches wide and 15-1/4 inches long. The middle and bottom pieces of foam are a little wider than the top. Whatever size you choose, cut the pieces at slightly different widths with the top being the shortest. When painted, they kind of look like sandy rock shelves. The bottom pieces are 12-1/2 to 13 – inches wide.
In the picture above, you can see a stack of three on each end and the middle section is a stack of four. In the end, I decided to make the middle section a stack of three, too.
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Painting The Tablescape Foam Base
Sometimes, when you use spray paint on foam, it causes the foam to disintegrate. My experience is that craft paint works quite well. In my collection of paint, the closest thing to a sand color is Ceramcoat AC Flesh Acrylic paint
. Wasn’t sure how that would work but honestly, it looks great! Along with the flesh paint, I used a ‘White’ and ‘Raw Umber’. As you can see, the flesh paint is simply poured into a small bowl. Then, smaller portions of white and raw umber are added to the side.
Using a 1-inch paintbrush, pick up some of the flesh paint, dip the edge in the raw umber or the white, and stipple or dab repeatedly onto the board.
The top boards need to be completely painted on the top and all of the edges. The underside doesn’t need to be painted.
The middle and bottom boards only need to be painted around the edges and a couple of inches from the sides onto the top.
Glue The Boards Together
Allow the foam boards to dry and then, place them in the proper stacks. Start applying glue to the middle board on the unpainted underside. You can glue around the edges and make an X through the center of the board.
Turn the board over and make sure the back and sides are lined up evenly. The front shouldn’t be uniform and be sure to use an edge that does not have a sharp uniform edge. Jagged is better here. If the edge is too straight, you can rake your fingernail along the edge to make it a more ragged edge.
Repeat for the top board. Then, place a flat heavy object on top of the stack. Begin the gluing process on the next stack and then, repeat with the last.
Position The Elements on The Boards
Tacky glue sets up pretty quickly. Once it does, you can start placing the faux coral pieces. When you have them where you want them, use a low melt glue gun or Tacky glue to glue the pieces to the foam board. The display will be easy to transport since it is broken down into three pieces.
When I first planned this tablescape, my intention was to almost completely cover the base with coral pieces made from foam. Truthfully, when placing the large pieces on the painted foam base, it looked so good, I decided not to completely cover the base and leave more of it showing.
The Treasure Chest and Treasures
If you are using a treasure chest, place it on the center foam boards first. Drape netting over the lid, inside the chest, over the front, and pool on the table. The netting came from the local dollar store. Drape the beads over the front of the treasure chest. The dollar store also has beads, but I found the turquoise beads at the fabric store. Place an inexpensive little shiny gold tray inside the chest. The Dollar Tree store also has little silver trays. The crown is one we have had here for years, and it just happened to be the perfect color.
It is not necessary to glue the treasure chest to the board. Just place it on the board after setting it up at the venue and the items in it can easily be adjusted.
Adding The Faux Coral to The Tablescape
Start by adding the taller pieces in the background and arrange the shorter pieces in front of those. Place the sea anemones toward the front. You can move these around until you are happy with your composition.
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Gluing
When you are sure everything is where you want it, begin gluing the pieces to the foam board. You can use the Tacky Glue
or the Low Melt Glue gun. First, glue the ones you can easily reach without knocking them over! Then, work on the ones just behind those after the glue is set on the first ones.
If you are duplicating this tablescape, it will be helpful to know the pool noodles needed for the project. You’ll need 2 lavender, 1 blue scalloped, 1 red, 1 green, 1 orange, 1 purple, and 3 lime green for this project. You, of course, can change the colors to suit your own party.
My youngest son was making fun of me for buying 25 pool noodles and asking what the people at the store must have thought! I bought 20, not 25, but there are several left for another project! This project takes less than you might think.
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Cheap Pool Noodles Can Make An Awesome Tablescape
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awesome!!
Thank you!