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. 

Weekend DIY

This past weekend as I was running errands, I noticed a Goodwill in the same parking lot as Target. On my way to Target, I decided to stop at Goodwill as I was not in any rush to get my errands accomplished quickly. I parked out front, and before I even made it in the door, I saw a mirror sitting outside with a SALE sign on it. Marked down from $50, there was a mirror (in great shape) sitting outside for only $10.  I have priced mirrors over the years and I knew that a $10 mirror was a steal! I ran inside, paid and ran back outside to grab the mirror and put it in my car.

When I got the mirror to the car, I began struggling getting the large mirror in the backseat. A man in the parking lot came over and helped me as much as possible. We even tried putting the mirror in the trunk of the car. No luck. Once we realized it would not fit in the car, he called his friend over and offered to put the mirror in his van and drive it to my house. I could not pass up this generous offer and said that would be great! They followed me to my house and carried it upstairs for me. Thinking that this was entirely too nice of them, I tipped them $20 and thanked them for their help. I then jumped back in the car and went back to Target as that was my original plan.

At Target, I picked up some sandpaper and some tools to hang the heavy mirror. I also picked up my other items on the list, stopped at the craft store for some spray paint and then went back home to start my SunDIY project. I dragged the mirror back outside, sanded it, wiped it down and spray painted it.

After the mirror dried, I brought it back in the house and began thinking of ways to hang it. After realizing the materials I bought were not strong enough to hold the mirror on the wall, I got back in the car and drove to Home Depot.  I explained my project to the Home Depot employee and he pulled out the tools I needed and sent me on my way (for free!). I then went home to hang my new headboard. Or so I thought.

Brad and I began putting the hooks in the wall when one of them cracked in half. It was 7:50pm and making it back to Home Depot in time was just not possible. I was devastated that I had to wait another day to hang my new piece of art.

The next day, I got home from work and went right back to Home Depot. I found the new hook (and watched someone get arrested!) and ran home as fast as possible. We put the new hook in the wall and the mirror was hung within 5 minutes.

I love my new headboard and will never forget how a little paint can completely change the look of something. Oh, and I sold my old headboard on Craigslist for the cost of the mirror and all the materials it took to make my new headboard. Total cost: $0.

What do you think? Would you attempt this DIY?