Thrift Store Tray Makeover

I’ve had this cute little tray sitting in my garage waiting for a makeover for no less than two years. I went through a phase a while back where I bought a bunch of thrift store items with project potential. Then… life.

My parents recently bought a beach house and I started scouring my garage for items they could use in the new house. My mom generally prefers to buy new, but she won’t turn down a good thrifty makeover from her daughter.

The tray was in decent shape but needed a good paint job. I was able to pull it apart and use a spray primer to coat each of the individual pieces.

I used a brush to paint a layer of bright white paint on everything.

I reassembled the pieces and used a small amount of wood glue to keep it from coming apart. Then I painted it with one more layer of white paint.

I painted an anchor onto the center of the tray using my easy DIY stencil method and some navy blue paint I had from a leftover sample.

I used a small paint brush to clean up the edges of the design and fill in any gaps.

I almost left it at that, but I decided the tray needed one more feature. I rifled through my craft arsenal and dug up some jute twine.

I cut two long pieces of twine and wrapped them around the tray handles using a hot glue gun to hold the twine in place.

It had the desired effect. It added a little texture and color to an otherwise clean, but somewhat boring, piece.

Once I was happy with the look, I added a layer of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax to protect the paint.

I just followed the instructions right on the can. I used my t-shirt scrap cloths to rub on, wait 15 minutes, rub in. Easy peasy.

I was quite pleased with the result.  Sometimes simple goes a long way.

Perfect beach decor for mom!

Other Beachy Makeovers:

Beachy Stools

Scrap Wood Whale Sign

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