Ok, so I decided the natural finish crackled under black would be pretty so I sanded my fake wood. You can't sand too much though or it gets really papery. I then applied the crackle. Let it dry and then painted on the black. I think it turned out pretty cool. One thing I will say about crackle is that it's NOT forgiving. You have ONE shot. You can't go over the same spot twice. If it's your first time doing it you may want to practice on something you do not care about like scrap wood.
In order to keep the finish nice on a table that gets MEGA use I clear coated it with 2 super thick coats of satin water based poly. I actually poured it on the table and brushed it around. I let the first coat completely dry overnight and did it again. We can clean it with pretty much any chemical and it does nothing to the finish. I did so little planning I took no before picture and only an "almost done" pic. So I'll post a pic probably with a kid or a pile of junk in it to see a before shot.
So I told you it would be a bad pic. At least you can see a little of the top? It's sort of covered with my new fun stuff! Best pic I could come up with!
Here is the middle of the project. All the way crackled. All the way painted black, just waiting for the rest to crack.
So that's the finished product. Clutter free ;)
