DIY Tray

While walking home from the running store over the weekend, I got inspired to hit up my local Goodwill and see what kind of DIY project I could find. I have been looking for a great frame to repurpose into a tray for awhile now and I got really lucky when I stumbled upon this beat up picture hidden in a corner at the thrift store. I instantly grabbed it and started planning out my afternoon project. If you want to make one of these DIY trays, here is what you will need:

An old frame, preferably one that is deep and at least one inch thick

A can of spray paint

A strip of fabric large enough to cover the cardboard inside the glass

Two door handles

Sandpaper

A screwdriver

 Here is the frame that I started with:

The first step in creating my tray was to take off the handle already on the frame and start sanding. I also took the glass and photo out of the frame while I worked on it. I didn't want to risk breaking the glass. I sanded it down just a little and took the frame outside to spray paint. I suggest spray painting the frame first so you can work on the other portions of the project while the paint dries.

The next step is to take your fabric and staple it to the cardboard. You can glue the fabric if you'd like but staples hold really well and there is no drying time. If you look closely below, you can see my staples.

Full view of stapled cardboard. *Hint: make sure to pull the fabric really tight so you don't have any wrinkles when you put it in the glass.

The next step (once the paint is dry) is to screw the door handles into the frame. You can get as fancy as you'd like with the handles, but I just wanted some simple ones and grabbed these for $2 each at Home Depot. 

Once the handles are screwed on, you can put the glass and fabric/ cardboard piece back in. Close the holders in the back and your final product is complete.

I put the tray on my coffee table and added a few accent candles. My living room is black, white and red and this new piece ties in well with the theme.