Old Tray Makeover
I transformed this little old tray with a distressed paint finish and a farmhouse style font. This has sweet memories for me from when I was little because it came from my grandparents house. My sister and I used to have so much fun pretend playing that we were running a cafe and we would use this every time. I couldn’t resist keeping it but I also love that I’ve been able to change it so it blends in with my decor now.
This is the before picture of the tray. Due to the finish I didn’t prep the surface other than cleaning, but since I was using chalk paint I had no issues with the paint adhering to the surface. I already had all the material required for this project so there was no cost involved for the transformation.
I applied two coats of chalk paint which gave good coverage.
To distress I used the wet distressing method which worked so well and was so much easier to get a great distressed finish than using sandpaper. I simply got a wet cloth, rubbed the areas that I wanted to remove the paint with the cloth and the finish underneath came through easily.
I printed out the text in my chosen font to apply to the tray.
I transferred the lettering onto the surface by tracing the letters on the reverse side of the paper using a pencil.
I then placed the paper on the tray facing upwards traced over the letters to transfer the pencil to create an outline.
Using a brown acrylic paint I carefully painted over the outline of the letters.
Using a sponge I then applied two coats of wax to seal the paint. Once dry I buffed the surface using a lint free cloth.
Over the clear wax I carefully applied dark wax using a sponge. I just used this to highlight detailed areas of the tray but also to create a more aged look over the surface. This followed more buffing using a lint free cloth achieve a smooth finish.
The finished result! I’m so happy with how it turned out.
I also love how versatile it is for adding to decor for every season!
Enjoyed the project?
Resources for this project:
See all materialsComments
Join the conversation
-
Charma Harrison on Dec 01, 2020
Yep, I really liked the original and wanted to see how it was done. The new one is just ok.
-
-
Mae Hawkins on Dec 02, 2020
Beautiful!!
-
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Wonderful project! What type of material is the original tray? It looks like sterling.....
Very cute! What font did you use? I love it!