A Little Square Tray - Before and After

Monday, October 11, 2010


Sometime this past summer I had stopped into this kinda cheap home decor store called Bouclair to look for window panels. I saw a cute, white, square tray up at the front of the store and was thiiiiiiis close to buying it. I had never even owned a tray 6 months ago but ever since I found the one I mentioned in this post, I've been itching to have another. When I originally saw the tray it was $29.99 and more than I had wanted to spend at the time. 

I dropped into the same store last week and found the very last square tray at the back of the store in the clearance section. It was marked down to $14.99. Woohoo! While the tray wasn't too bad in its original state, I thought I could improve upon the uber-shiny-stark-white finish as well as the silver leaf design that was sprayed on top.  

Red sticker - score!
I gave the tray a light sanding, then primed it with interior latex primer. I used one coat of white latex paint over top (I was feeling too lazy to do two coats) and then lightly distressed the corners and edges with some 100 grit sandpaper.

An 11.5" x 11.5" square.
While my paint was drying I tried my luck at cutting a perfect square out of this lovely paper. The reason I chose this paper was that: a) I already had it and b) The braided rug in our living room also has some light purple in it. Okay, okay I will admit that I just might be turning into a crazy scrapbook paper lady after all.

A few supplies.

I was a bit nervous to do this step because I had never really used Mod Podge before. It wasn't so bad. Although now I know what people are talking about when they mention bubbles and ripples and smooshing the paper. Not gonna lie, mine is full of bubbles, ripples, and lumps.  

Gluey and goopy.
 Even though the paper fit inside the bottom of the tray perfectly before I glued, it ended up a wee bit short on two of the sides and a wee bit long on the other two sides. Not really sure how that happened.


I was a bit impatient for the Mod Podge to dry so I took out my awesome new hairdryer (called The Speed Freak, oh yeah) to speed up the process. Then, onto the fun part. Sticking random things in it and then taking a million and one pictures.








The tray is actually going to go on the trunk/coffee table in my living room. I wasn't able to take any pictures of it there since my couches have been stripped of their slipcovers for a steamy, hot, bleach-filled wash. I wandered downstairs the other day to find this guilty-looking culprit snoozing on my clean white couch. Apparently he's been sneaking up on both the sofa and loveseat when we're in other rooms or gone to work. Um, we can see your pawprints and dog fur on there, you silly dog. 

Busted!
Check out these other deeeee-lightful projects:

Saturday Soiree @ A Little Lovely
Make It 4 Monday @ Cottage Instincts
Style Feature Saturday @ Perfectly Imperfect
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on The Porch
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Anything Related @ All Thingz Related
Lucky Linky @ Lucky Star Lane
Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm
Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Hooking Up W/ HoH @ House of Hepworths
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

21 comments:

  1. turned out great! cute dog too!

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  2. I like how you transformed the tray. Although it already looked nice before the scrapbook paper adds that little bit of personal style to it.

    Chrissy

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  3. You did an amazing job on the tray! It took my mom a long time to make sure there were no bubbles.
    Your dog is a cut-e :)

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  4. Adorable! You did such a great job- I have a black tray that needs some sprucing up- I'll have to do this!! Thanks for sharing!

    -Kendall
    {songbirdsandbuttons.blogspot.com}

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  5. Sarah,
    This tray is a cutie! Your pictures are so lovely!

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  6. So pretty! You can do so much with mod podge!

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  7. I love the tray...I transformed one myself and I liked how it turned out so much I bought another one. I love them.

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  8. This THRIFTY tray is so dang cute! Thanks for showing her off at my PAR-TAY!!!!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  9. i love the little tray! you made it so much cuter! where would our world be without mod podge? i mean, really?

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  10. This looks really cute and I love all the different ways you acessorized it.

    :) Michelle

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  11. Cute tray! I have a love hate relationship with Mod Podge too. Sometimes you have to apply to both surfaces (tray and paper). You have to start on one end and rub like crazy as you slowly lay it down. Air bubbles will sometimes disappear while it dries. I have started using a light gel medium more and more for paper. Less stressful! Nice to meet you.

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  12. It looks so much better with the paper. Good job.

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  13. I love what you did to that tray. I just bought mod podge for the first time and have been wanting to try it out so thanks for the warnings. And I think I'm becoming (or am) a crazy scrapbook paper lady too:)

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  14. So pretty! It looks great!

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  15. This is such a fun project. Totally adds extra character to the tray. Great job!

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  16. Great job on the tray! Bouclair gets some great cheap things for redo's! love your blog btw! :)

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  17. How cute of your dog-my dogs own our couch-we hardly can squeeze in to sit down. Makes me think of that commerical where when the people get home the dog gets off their bed into his on the floor!

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  18. Haha I love your million and one photos :) Great job on that tray! Visiting from Frugal Friday.

    Meredith
    http://welcometoheardmont.com

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  19. this is adorable!!! And I did try posting my second entry to your giveaway-not sure if it went through-but didn't want to post a second....but I did post two-just FYI:)

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  20. It looks so much better with the paper. Good job.

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