DIY $1.99 Tray Makeover

While at our favorite store ever, Hobby Lobby, we found some great trays in the aisle of wooden crafts and knew they had some serious potential! We bought a large rectangle one for $2.99 and then this small octagon shaped one for only $1.99!! We moved on over to the scrap book aisle to check out their array of paper. I found a perfect piece that looked like antique turquoise wood. Once i had my supplies, it didnt take long to complete the tray transformation.

I started by mixing up a turquoise color from our large supply of acrylic paint. I applied 2 coats on the inside and out, painting a little onto the middle of the tray in case parts of the corners once the paper was glued in.

Then I bought some stain at the hardware store for around $5. Using a sock I just sort of wiped on the stain in certain spots to give it an antique look, mimicking the look of the scrapbook paper. I applied it more heavily in some spots, like on the edges and corners. I let that dry over night.

Then I traced around the bottom of the tray onto my scrap book paper, then measured 1/4 of an inch inside of my trace line to accound for the 1/4 inch edge on the tray. You will find this is still a little to big to fit inside of the tray, so you have to do some trimming around the edges to get it to fit.

Then I applied a coat of Mod Podge to the bottom of the tray, and glue the paper down. Another coat of mod podge went on top of the paper. I had some issues with the paper bubbling, you can smooth some of the bubbles out with your finger. Mine still had a lot and I was frustrated, but after it dried, most of the bubbles went down.

After the tray dried, I applied two light coats of Clear Acrylic Gloss Coating that we had left over from the Christmas coasters we made (see tutorial here). This coating sort of seals the tray, adds a little bit of shine and makes it water proof. Let that dry and you're finished!

-Whitney