May 14, 2012

French Label Tray


I have a thing for little wooden trays.  For me, they are a perfect blank canvas waiting to be transformed into something special. I find them at yard sales, thrift shops, and craft stores in all sizes and usually for less than $5. They're either stained, painted, or unfinished and vary in the quality of craftsmanship and the kind of wood used.

This little white tray is propped on a shelf in the corner of my loft craft room.  





I bought it at a thrift store already painted yellow and repainted it with 2 coats of white homemade chalk paint (1 cup of flat latex paint mixed well with 1 tablespoon of un-sanded grout.) 




 When the paint was dry, I used matte Mod Podge to decoupage on a French label from The Graphics Fairy




When dry again, I used a rag to wipe on a tiny bit of Minwax Dark Finishing Wax and sealed everything with light wax. After  letting it dry once more overnight, I buffed the tray to  a light sheen.  




Wooden trays, an inexpensive canvas for all kinds of creative fun. 


Thanks for visiting today, and I hope you have a great week!

You may also like
French Label Pillow
Craft Room Color

  
I'm linking up to parties at some great blogs this week. 
Please join me!

21 comments:

  1. I love the tray! I have mine spray painted heirloom white. I think I've finally chosen which french word graphic to use from the Graphics Fairy. All I have to do now is print a copy at the library. Thanks so much for that tip! I hope you had a wonderful mother's day! ~ Jamie

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  2. Great looking tray Laurel! It looks fab on the shelf!

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  3. Your tray looks great! I am getting ready to paint a tray myself! I love your craft room! My craft room looks like a dungeon.-- it is in the basement and not very organized--someday..... I an your newest follower. I hope you can visit me sometime too! The picture of your home is very cozy too!

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  4. Really nice! Great find too - I just saw an unfinished tray at the craft store for $25! I'm definitely going to have to visit the Graphics Fairy!

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  5. Hi Laurie,
    I love your french tray, looks fantastic, thank you for visiting my blog, yours is full of inspiration, I'm your follower now,

    Have a great day

    Laura

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  6. Another great project Laurel :)

    You keep inspiring me with all of your crafty ideas!

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  7. Love that white tray, seems to be some deeper than others I've found.
    I have an old red one that's not in best shape, will sand it a bit, give it a coat of paint to see how it holds up and see if I can't frenchify it. Thanks for great idea.

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  8. You are very artistic! The tray looks owesome! My daughter who's getting married soon asked me to make one of those signs "Thank You" for her. You know, the groom holds "Thank" and she holds "You." I have two pieces of wood but no idea how to get a nice stencil or whatever on earth I need to get those words there. Any idea?? Lovely post, I like your pillows too! Hugs!

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  9. I have some wooden trays I want to do and this inspires me--looks great!

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  10. Love, love your tray! And the transfer is beautiful! I have been trying to learn to do transfers, but I just can't seem to get it right! LOL You did a wonderful

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  11. Hi Laurel, who can resist a tray? Looks perfect on your metal shelf. I'm going to try your homemade CP recipe, thanks for linking up to Vintage Inspiration!!

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  12. Graphics fairy is the best. I love that you used chalkboard paint. It probably has such a great texture!
    ~Trudy http://thriftscore42.blogspot.com/

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  13. Your tray is is oh so pretty, and it looks fabulous on your shelf. Your room looks like the perfect place to be inspired!
    gail

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  14. I love trays too. And this one is sweet!

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  15. You can never have too many trays. They are class acts, but wonderful trays are not easy to find. Just look what you did with some poor cast off tray and your ingenuity. You are a inspiration to me. Virginia

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  16. What a cute French Tray. I always love being inspired by your blog. Thanks so much for sharing on Simple & Sweet Fridays.
    Just want to thank you for always commenting on my blogs, always good to hear from you. Have a fun week!

    Jody

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  17. Loving the tray Laurel! Thanx for joining THT lady! Hope your week is going well!

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  18. ♥ the tray! It turned out beautiful. I just finished painting some wood trays just to do this vary thing. Hope mine turnout as well as yours. Thanks for sharing ~ Judy

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