A New Old Tray

One of my thrifty treasures from a couple weeks ago was this tray:

It’s a cherry-wood tray with areas to put photos under a protective plastic sheet.  The plastic is held down by tiny magnets.
I thought it was $2, but I found the price tag and I actually spent $4 on it.  Full disclosure, ya know 😀

Pretty neat design for photos and all, but the plastic was scratched beyond repair, so this cute little tray would see no more photos.
I wanted to keep the plastic, but I had to deal with the scratches.

I also got my behind over to Hobby Lobby and picked out some pretty scrapbook paper for 20c a sheet.
Then I Mod Podged the paper right to the plastic tray, one design on the front, and one design on the back.  Gotta have options you know 🙂

Now I have a reversible, water-proof tray liner!
Then I had to do something with the tray itself, since cherry-wood is just a little too red for our decor.  I grabbed some “Oregano” Rustoleum and sprayed painted on Sunday during a calm spell in the afternoon.

to stain the paint and scuffed areas and make the tray look a little more weathered (I also used this stuff on my homemade guest room headboard, and while I had it out, I went over the top of the cedar chest as well, and it did a GORGEOUS job of hiding scratches and shining it up).  You just rub it on with a rag and then toss the rag.  Couldn’t be easier.  Because of the cherry stain on the wood, the scuffed areas on the tray turned out a little bit pinkish/reddish, but I’m ok with that.

It’s in the guest room for now, until I find a better place for it.  I figure it will be nice to be able to put those tschotschkes on it to quickly get into the top of the cedar chest.