Rustic Tray From a Picture Frame

6 Materials
$5
2 Hours
Easy

During Winter months I get bored and I often dip into my craft stash and get creative as I'm about to show you with this upcycled picture frame....boring black to rustic and red!

First I painted the frame with a cream chalk paint, distressed the edges and finished with a brown wax from the Decor Chalk Paints. Sorry, I don't have a photo of those steps but you don't have to paint and distress the frame as I did, you can leave it as is.

Next I used Mod Podge for decorating the inside cardboard portion of the frame, remove the insert and set it on your table to enable you to work on it.

Pour some of the mod podge in a tray and use a sponge or any type of paint brush to completely cover the cardboard insert with the product.

I used decorative napkins to decoupage onto the cardboard, but first remove the plain white layer of tissue paper from the colored print layer. You'll only want that one top printed layer to adhere to your insert, set aside the rest.

Once you have it separated very carefully place it on your cardboard ensuring it is as smooth as possible. Once you have it in place you can use the brush again and gently cover the entire napkin with a thin layer of mod podge. Once it has completely dried you can put the insert back into the frame displaying the patterned napkin.

So if the picture frame was to become a tray, it would need handles right? How about using dog collars for that? I said I like to get creative didn't I?


I used tiny silver screws to attach them onto the wooden frame, I thought that they would blend in with the silver studs on the collar, which they did in my opinion.

Here's a closeup view to show you the distressed edges of the frame and the tiny silver screws that secured the collars in place,

Once the picture frame was all ressembled it was ready to put on display with some other country cottage items. The intended use is for decor only NOT a serving tray, for transferring food and utensils I would reinforce this project with a thin veneer wood backing.

The red handles accent the red in the napkin check pattern and the distressed frame adds character, I'm super pleased how this turned out. Here's hoping you have some dog collars and picture frames lying around to try this out yourself!


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  2 questions
  • Jeano Jeano on Jan 05, 2019

    Do you put the glass back on top of the napkin ??? to use as a tray with things that may be wet, like glasses of beverages ?

  • Donna Donna on Jan 05, 2019

    Isn't picture glass very thin? I'd be worried that it would break if someone set a cup on it too hard. Is this a concern?

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